Frightful Forties (forgot 2 put it up last friday)

Maus II is a continuation of the frightful life Art’s dad Vladek experienced as a young adult. Throughout this novel, Art shows the cruel and unjust things the Nazi’s did to the Jews and their ways of trickery and deceit. One of the main points I can gather from this novel is to never trust anyone fully. By this I mean, the Jew’s along with others heard rumors about the Germans sending people to gas chambers but they thought if they cooperated, nothing bad would happen to them. However, as we know they got sent to the very same place eventually. Another main point I believe Art tries to get across is how one group of people can completely take over the lives of another group just because they have different beliefs. Even though the Jews were people just like everyone else, they were murdered and basically made slaves just because they didn’t have the same beliefs. Throughout the novel we see how one race can use their power in an unfair way.

I found Maus II a very well written novel. I think the fact he wrote it in a comic series really helped readers understand the concept of what happened better. I believed the Holocaust happened before I ever read this but when I did read Maus, I did not want to put the book down. With all the pictures and so forth, people are able to see the cruel treatment done by the German soldiers and how you had to be someone or be lucky to survive. Throughout the novel Vladek survived because he knew or could somewhat perform a bunch of different job traits. His idea to show a survivors tale in this form was a great one. Although some may have been offended, I don’t think anyone ever took lightly the story Art tells throughout his novel.

I also think the idea one race decides to completely wipe out another is horrible. No matter what people are people. Everyone is the same except they may have different beliefs and opinions, besides that though they all perform pretty much the same daily functions. To be able to kill so many and not feel bad but actually enjoy what they were doing is beyond me. The German soldiers had no problem inflicting harm onto others. They found their job humorous at times, and others just watched as they did it. Why would others just let them get away with such a cruel act? That question was asked a lot and everyone had different reasons. One mainly being fear of it happening to them. However, if you let one race wipe out another I don’t see why people wouldn’t think they could be next.

People may really believe that people aren’t that unjust and cruel. One point was never to trust another fully. I find this true in many cases. When hearing about the gas chambers noone thought the German’s would really go that far. It happens in everyday life. We hear one thing and don’t think it could really be that bad. A story I heard that isn’t exactly about the Holocaust but is about war really shocked me. We were talking about the war in Iraq and one thing I found out was that the government doesn’t pay for the soldiers to have bullet proof vests. If they want one they have to pay for their own. Why is our government able to spend money to try and rebuild Iraq, a nation that is our enemy but they can’t make sure their own soldiers are fully equipped and safe. That is pathetic in my opinion. Another story that disturbs me is about a friend of my aunt’s son. Her son signed up for two years and during that time an explosion that went off messed up his teeth. When his time came to go home, they would not let him. They made him stay another two months if he wanted them to pay for the cost of fixing up his teeth. How unfair is that? Were suppose to trust our government system but we really have no idea what is going on behind the scenes.