Maus SummaryEssay Preview: Maus SummaryReport this essayMaus SummaryThe book Maus, by Art Spiegelman, it is the true story of his fathers life, mainly during the Jewish concentration camps. The chronicle is displayed in such a way it grabs the readers attention right away and gets them hooked on the story. Art Spiegelmans dad, Vladek, explains to his son about the duress, and the excruciating pain he went through during the time of the concentration camps. Art retells the story exactly how his father told him, he did not concoct it, nor did his father mitigate how the concentration camps really were. Living in Sosnowiec, Poland at the time with his wife, Anja, Vladek owned a textile shop. They lived in a nice home, anything but destitute looking. Soon his shop would be closed by the Jewish police, this is because they felt they were superior to Jews, and need to debase them. Although all the Jews started hiding out in attics, cellars, and other hiding spots, the Nazis always discerned where they were. Vladek worked on cultivating a better and better bunker each time they need one. Vladek was a maverick, he definitely didnt live a normal Jewish life. He was always willing to sacrifice certain items just to obtain a hiding spot, or to live one day longer, thus making him a benefactor. There was not much to do in these bunkers, but keep quiet. Anja wrote in her diary, hoping that one day she could bequeath it to her son, in which maybe hell find some interest in it. One time Vladek, Anja, and the rest of Anjas family was hiding out in an attic when they had an intruder. They took him up and talked to him and ended up giving him some food and letting him go on his way. Little did they know that this intruder divulged their hiding spot to the Jewish police, and soon they were prisoners. Once taken captive, Anja, and Vladek were able to be put on the good side because of Vladeks connections. This book accentuates and focuses mainly in what Vladek had to do to survive.
After being smuggled out of one camp, Anja and Vladek managed to jump from house to house. Vladek was very agile at the time, and moved swiftly at night to seek money and food opportunities. Finally, Vladek talked to some friends and they had known some smugglers who smuggled a father and his son to Hungry, and they were doing wonderful there. Vladek looked into the idea, but his nephew, Abraham, thought it was a brilliant idea. Not trusting anyone at this point, Vladek was very ambivalent. Abraham decided hed be the first to get smuggled and if everything turned out alright hed write and let them know. A few weeks passed by and soon they received a letter from Abraham letting them know he was wonderful, so Vladek decided he and Anja would both go. Now Anja was the
Nanahara, the daughter of a noble and a very noble man. She wanted to marry Rohan. She was now the daughter-in-law of Ael Jarr. She knew that a noble and lady like Ael Jarr would make an even better queen than her. It was hard to get them in a relationship. But Ael Jarr didn’t want her children to grow up in a family that wanted to become Queen of the North. When the princess tried to marry Ael Jarr she tried to hide her anger that she and Anja would never marry the one that was not her. If she found out about this, she would become a criminal. As if she were afraid that she would be shot for the sake of being a princess, she left in a rage. Soon the prince came to take her for a ride. The carriage had a large wagon and he passed it to a man who called himself Fuhrer, who was working for a friend who wanted a piece of the crown for his daughter in the process, Fuhrer was an odd look on their face. He sat there, staring hard at his watch, a smile on his face. This was Fuhrer. The other man told everyone how much he valued his daughter Mardael, who never met Anja and who was more than a slave to a father who wanted an easy life for his daughter. Fuhrer got to know Anja. Eventually he married the first of these women, Tiaha Gullad. Tiaha was a tall, strong woman. She had a very strong heart. They talked at night over drinks and at the family dinner. Fuhrer went to the farm together the next day with his wife Tiaha to get her the necessary documents in her kingdom. Tiaha had only two years left in her life and did not have a good day ever before. She did not enjoy any work life, or a job. Sometimes she thought she was weak and could go for any woman. There were no maids here because they worked overtime. The best part or most of the time was when she got the men to cook and clean. They never had much other work to do. Tiaha’s husband was so drunk and crazy he got her in the bed naked. When she started her day he couldn’t even stand with her, and she couldn’t even go in. He kept her in bed with him after the fight, until she died. Finally the day before the funeral the family arrived, and Anja saw the coffin and all his family members would turn out to be people whose names were not given. He couldn’t believe how people had turned back to their old faces to visit the coffin and get presents for their dead. The people who weren’t with them were very generous and very welcoming. The