"The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human."

-- Adolf Hitler

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Maus II, Chapter 2 - "Auschwitz (Time Flies)"

For homework, Tuesday, March 27:  Read Chapter 2 by Wednesday morning, and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you take notes!  Remember, there was a 350% increase on 100% quiz grades for Chapter 6 when people took notes.  THERE WILL BE A QUIZ ON WEDNESDAY, so make sure you do the reading.  And, if you read Chapter 2 some time ago, make sure you review THIS CHAPTER so you're not confusing it with events of other chapters for the quiz. 

*NOTE:  You do not need to comment on this post.  However, if you read the comment that follows, you will see an example of notes taken for Chapter 2 by me and my class last year.  This was a compilation of all of our notes.  Notice it is not just PLOT, but also significance of images and events in the story.

2 comments:

  1. Chapter 2, frame by frame.(Chapter 3 frame by frame analysis should be similar to this...)
    Title page... The Mouses "mice" are getting burned, and you see flies on that page.
    First frame we see Artie with a mouse mask. We know it's Artie because he is writing the story. Why is he a human with a mouse mask? In the first frame it says Vladek dies. What else is important on the page... His book, book I, is now a commercial success. Artie looks depressed. Artie is having a baby. On the bottom frame, we see dead mice gathering at his feet which symbolizes that he is gaining fame from the dead. Artie says he has been feeling depressed.
    Page 42, frame 7, he gets small, turns into a child, on the chair. Everyone is wearing a mask. Since he is drawing this, perhaps now he is seeing everyone by their race, thinking how he would draw them in his book. The different animal masks could mean that maybe now everyone is pretending to be something that they are not. He is popular now and famous and everyone is putting on a facade to get something from Artie. Artie might be wearing a mask because he is maintaining his Jewish heritage. The mask doesn't really exist, however, it is a mental mask that people use for protection. Artie is trying to convince himself that he is something that he really isn't, Jewish. Artie is not practicing. He is not all that religious and here he is wearing a mask, perhaps this has to do with how others are seeing him. He feels he is putting on this Jewish facade. It could be how other people are perceiving him. People might be hiding behind their race/religion. We don't know what is exactly right or wrong, there are many things that he could be pointing out with this.
    page 43 frame 2 tells how he will be a father. On this page we also see that Artie is going to see a shrink. Does this ring any bells? His mother. Mental health is a reacurring theme. Artie has a picture of a cat in the last frame. His psychiatrist has many cats and dogs, and he is wondering if it will mess up his metaphor. The metaphor being that cats are Nazis. His shrink is also Jewish. He is older like his father and has been throught the concentration camps.
    page 44 frame 5 talks about how Artie feels inferior to Vladek because his dad survived.
    page 45 frame 2 it shows a comparison between life and death. The frame is talking about life equals winning and death equals losing. The next frame discusses the randomness of who lived and who died. Vladek might not agree because their are certain circumstances that would help them survive. What are some strategies that Vladek used to survive? He knew the right people. His wealth helped him to buy things. He hid things and then bartered. He used his talents to survive. He also saved things, made sacrifices (like his food), which helped him to survive. This is similar to the miners in Chile who were stuck in the mines and rationed their food. He was also really friendly with the guards. Vladek had general resourcefulness. Frames 6 and 8 show irony. He said that words are a waste, but he used words to say this.
    page 46, frame 2, has the psychiatrist trying to explain how Auschwitz felt. It shows that it was scary, but ALWAYS. On the last frame, Artie grows back in size. This shows that therapy is working.
    page 47, frame 6, which shows his new overseer threatens to expose Vladek. The roofs are made with tin and earlier in the book one, we see Vladek wanting Artie to help him with the roof. Yidl is a communist. Communism is communal ownership of everything. Yidl's slam at Vladek is to call him a capitalist.
    Page 48, the last frame, shows that Yidl always wants more. We see the importance of food and exchanges.
    Page 49, the last frame, shows again more about food. You wait in the back of the line, you get solid food.

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