learntoquestion ltq discussions

A compelling idea in this post was the connection to another modern-day issue, which is racism in America. The post stated, “forgetting the impacts of slavery, another disturbing event that killed millions, and its effects on America since abolition would lead citizens to ignore the injustices Black people faced and continue to face in the modern-day.” This is a great example because it highlights why history must not be ignored and how generational trauma continues to impact people today. It also shows the importance of acknowledging and addressing this trauma, because this is the only way that steps can be taken to improve these current-day issues and prevent similar events in the future. Another interesting idea in the post was when the author wrote, “This resentment generally manifests in the way the traumatized parent raises their children, passing on the trauma.” They state that Artie resents his parents for raising him in a way that was influenced by the terrible things they experienced. This is a very difficult topic of conversation. Of course it is not Artie’s parents’ fault that their lives, and therefore their parenting, were influenced by the Holocaust. However, it does make sense that Artie is somewhat frustrated that he has had to deal with so much pain and negativity his entire life. He deserves to feel negative emotions about this, but he should never direct it towards his parents. Overall, this post was well written and had great ideas.

Originally posted by PinkWaterbottle on February 11, 2025 16:45

The chaos and destruction of the Holocaust are proven to have left its survivors with trauma and internal turmoil that affects them and the following generations for the majority, if not the entirety, of their lives. Artie Spiegelman effectively showcases this phenomenon in Maus, as he has a rocky relationship with his father, which can be directly linked to the infamous genocide of 6 million Jewish people. Through his father, Vladek, readers can see just how the relationship between parents and their children is affected. Vladek is portrayed with “an almost unbearable frugality, pedantry, authoritativeness”, one of the many factors that began a strain between Artie and his father (Stanislav 236). Spiegelman tries his best to spend as little time with his father as possible to prevent losing his head over an argument caused by their contrasting personalities. He even goes as far as to shut Vladek up by cutting him off whenever he goes on one of his tangents. Art gains insight into why his father behaves the way he does, but to no avail, their relationship remains stagnant. There exist psychological consequences that arise for the child from an estranged relationship with a surviving parent. Maus depicts depression and incompetence, a couple of the several feelings the offspring of survivors have the possibility of adopting, through Art’s late brother Richieu, who died during the Holocaust. Additionally, Spiegelman explicitly details harboring “some kind of guilt about having an easier life than [his parents] did” (16).

It is clear that Artie has little to no patience with his father due to the resentment that has bubbled up throughout his life. This resentment generally manifests in the way the traumatized parent raises their children, passing on the trauma. We see from Maus how the Holocaust impacts a parent-son relationship, but this genocide can also affect other aspects of second-generation survivors’ lives. Beyond Artie’s depicted emotions, some can experience biological changes, feeling like they’re undeserving of success or happiness, social detachment, and much more.

Trauma could also translate into the desire to tell the stories of their parents, like Artie’s. However, feelings of overwhelmedness and/or confusion may surface during or after crafting the work. Spiegelman reflects this at the beginning of the second chapter of Maus II, when he draws himself depressed and masked, a metaphor for his personal feelings of phoniness when it comes to his Jewish identity.

Considering the endless consequences that come from generational trauma, it is not possible to simply move past and ignore it. Traumatic experiences can creep into one’s social, psychological, and physical well-being, as shown through Holocaust survivors and their offspring. This is proven through other notorious major events. For example, forgetting the impacts of slavery, another disturbing event that killed millions, and its effects on America since abolition would lead citizens to ignore the injustices Black people faced and continue to face in the modern-day. Living with and addressing all the factors of trauma, including the history behind it and its aftermath, is the only way to make steps towards officially moving forward from it without forgetting its influence.

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Originally posted by Fahrenheit.jr. on February 10, 2025 22:15

Generational trauma, as shown in Maus by Art Spiegelman, demonstrates how the psychological and emotional wounds of Holocaust survivors continue to be present through the next generations. In terms of Spiegelman, his father Vladek, survived devastating horrors during World War II, and the trauma of these experiences significantly shaped his life and relationship with his son. Art’s struggle to understand his father’s behavior and to connect with him is an example of how the generations following survivors see not only the stories of trauma but also the emotional weight that they carry. The survivors of stuff like this will carry a mix of guilt, shame, anger, and fear, which gets passed on to the following generations, even though they did not experience the trauma directly. In Maus, Art describes how he feels burdened by the weight of his father’s history and how he struggles to understand a past that he did not live through, yet it still affects his everyday life. This is also known as “post-memory,” as stated in the Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’ by Kolar Stanislav, “Postmemory characterizes the experience of those who grow up dominated by narratives that preceded their birth, whose own belated stories are evacuated by the stories of the previous generation, shaped by traumatic events that can be neither understood nor recreated.” It is also evident that the trauma experienced by Holocaust survivors extends further than just individual families and touches whole communities too. The general memory of the Holocaust, with its loss of millions of lives, the destruction of communities, and the forced displacement of Jews, is something that most will never forget. This idea of a trauma that impacts a community, affects how later generations process their identity, culture, and relationship with others. An example of this is how Art’s experience in Maus reflects the struggles of Jewish communities who are still grappling with the loss of their ancestors, feeling the weight of the past without having directly lived it.

The impact of generational trauma is not only seen with Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Similar patterns of generational trauma can be seen in the descendants of survivors of other genocides, wars, and conflicts. An example of this could be the descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide who also often face psychological challenges rooted in the unresolved grief and trauma of previous generations. These people may struggle with identity, a sense of vulnerability, or fear that their communities may again face persecution. The memories of these traumatic events, though passed down through storytelling, create a sense of emotional distress that affects every aspect of life. In terms of whether it is possible to move beyond generational trauma or if it’s better to live with it, I think it is hard to determine that. Recovering from generational trauma is possible, however, requires confronting the dreadful pain of the past. Acknowledging trauma, telling stories, and allowing space for emotional expression can help start the recovery from suffering. In Maus, Art’s decision to tell his father’s story through a graphic novel exemplifies how confronting and sharing the trauma can be a healing act. However, I think the process of healing is not necessarily that straightforward, and the trauma could potentially never fully be erased. For some people, living with the awareness of generational trauma can create a sense of resilience or empathy, while for other people, it can feel like more of a burden. In the end, it is not that the past should be erased, but to make it so that people and communities can learn and grow from the past and remember what happened in the past by moving forward from it and honoring the people who suffered.

The most compelling idea in Fahrenheit.jr’s post is that trauma can impact a community in three ways. Through identity, culture, and relationships with others. I found that really interesting, because I never thought about it that way. I mostly think about how trauma can impact one's identity, but the rest are definitely true. The part that was interesting here is how trauma can affect culture. They say that the community is impacted because of how much the trauma has affected them all. I think that shared trauma can change one's culture, and it can change how many people act. People could be scared to be their own people, practice their own culture because of past events that could traumatize them. I liked the writing flow in this, and I liked the moments where it was colloquial. I think they could analyze the quote a little more, but it did fit in well with what the writer was trying to say. I really liked the point of how we as a society can start to heal from traumatic events. They said how acknowledging that trauma, and sharing stories and experiences are what we need to do to move on. Maus is one of those ways, because it shares the story and helps educate the world.

One suggestion I would have is to format the post a little differently. Making different paragraphs would make the post more comprehensible and engaging. Large paragraphs tend to cause people to lose their interest faster.

Originally posted by User0729 on February 11, 2025 09:42

Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors because it is like a trickle-down effect that gets passed down from generation to generation. It is imposed and becomes a weight that the descendants must bear because of how historically large and traumatizing the event was. It becomes a responsibility for the children of the survivors and society as a whole to bring attention and recognition to these events in order to be able to move forward. For some people, this weight is a real burden, and others use it to voice for themselves and for others the problems that we are facing, along with our historical pasts. Spiegelman uses Maus as a way to cope with his inheritance from his father as a Holocaust survivor. Since Artie did not experience the Holocaust himself, he still experiences the guilt, and his situation isn’t helped by the fact that Vladek is so distant and disconnected from him. This generational trauma shapes people’s identities and the ways that they are able to connect and communicate with others. The weight of the traumatic experiences from direct ancestors can lead to troubles in connecting family, as shown with Vladek’s difficult relationship with his son, Artie. Artie is rude and repetitively sees his father as a burden in the novel, complaining about having to look after him. Of course, Artie’s ignorance comes from pressure and a feeling of having to live up to or. surpass what his father had doneecially when Vladek makes it clear that he is placing this pressure on Artie instead of it being indirect. Even with the death of Artie’s deceased brother, Richieu, he feels pressure to be able to be “perfect” because his competition is the image of a little boy who was innocent and perfect since he didn’t have the chance to be otherwise. Even in my own experience, with my mother fleeing conflict in her home country and my father working grueling hours, barely making a living, I feel the pressure to succeed and make sure that their efforts are validated and their struggle for a life or better yet “American Dream” is not in vain. My mother, as a little girl, would hide in a basement with her family as guerilla groups used their house as a fort, leaving the already feeble house bullet-riddled and destroyed. In a poor country, her only options were to sell bean scraps that were left over from harvests and ruled unworthy to be sold. Listening to the stories of my parents and their. struggles, I try to connect with them, but I know it's not possible because the whole purpose of their immigration was so that I would never understand what it is that they went through. My only option is to acknowledge their struggles, carry them on my back, and move forward. The question of whether its better to move beyond the trauma or just accept it and live with it is difficult because I cannot answer for everyone, and some trauma is deeper than others, but I can answer that in my so far short experience it has been easier to carry that weight and all of that trauma and use it as motivation to force myself into becoming someone better and more understanding of others, as well as making sure that what I create for myself is enough to ensure of their sacrifice and enough for me.

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Originally posted by charsiu on February 10, 2025 09:05

The Holocaust shaped a large portion of survivors’ character and lives, and was a period marked by loss, suffering, and hardship. To many in the years that followed, such a calamity is unimaginable. The entire scope of survivors’ history and emotions and their effect on one’s identity cannot be fully understood without firsthand experience, creating a divide between generations that is reinforced by trauma. Survivors of the Holocaust carry trauma that impact their children through postmemory, or the experiences that are separated by distance and the degree of personal connection. Kolar Stanislav in Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’ notes, “Postmemory characterizes the experience of those who grow up dominated by narratives that preceded their birth, whose own belated stories are evacuated by the stories of the previous generation, shaped by traumatic events that can be neither understood nor recreated.” This causes feelings of displacement, estrangement, and a lack of experience, leading to identity crisis. This is evident in Maus, as Artie feels distanced from what Vladek had endured, clawing at scraps of stories in attempts to gain insight into the past. Artie and Vladek’s relationship is tense, and Artie maintains a tense, unempathetic, and impatient temperament towards his father, particularly because generational trauma of Holocaust survivors often causes children to feel disconnected from their family’s history and their parents, because they are incapable of truly relating on an intimate level. On page 16 of Maus II, Artie says, “I know this is insane, but somehow I wish I had been in Auschwitz with my parents so I know what they really went through. I guess it’s some kind of guilt about having an easier life than they did. I feel so inadequate trying to reconstruct a reality that was worse than my darkest dreams…There’s so much I’ll never be able to understand or visualize.” Moreover, trauma often influences the characteristics, behavior, and beliefs of survivors, which sticks with them long after their hardship has ended and impacts the next generation. During the Holocaust, Vladek was forced to drastically ration his savings and survive from odd jobs, lost many luxuries of the pre-war era, and could not afford many necessities at times. As a result, he became extremely cheap and unwilling to waste money or resources. He cares excessively about money, and making sure materials are used completely. This has taken a toll on the people around him, especially Mala, who he constantly accuses of trying to steal his assets from him, and Artie, who feels mortified at his father’s habits. Moreover, due to the terrible living conditions inside the Nazi concencration camps and Jewish ghettos, when the prisoners were purposefully starved, Vladek became very cautious about not wasting food. When Artie was younger, for instance, Vladek forced him to eat everything on his plate, and would often argue with him or leave leftovers until Artie consumed it out of starvation. This shows how suffering incurred by the Holocaust and other traumatic events can leave a lasting impact on people, also directly or indirectly affecting their children.

It is an incredible feat to move on from generational trauma, because of how it seems to repeat across time even when it is not purposefully done. It’s often difficult to recognize and break patterns of trauma, and often it stems from what a family has gone through in certain eras of history. Although it is a shadow that plagues a family, it is part of their experiences, and an explanation for how families change over time. It is not sufficient to completely disregard generational trauma and move on from it, because of this importance in distinguishing a family’s past. Rather it’s better to accept a family’s experiences, understand their stories, and learn to reverse harmful behaviors. Artie will likely never be able to change Vladek, but he still has the opportunity to come to an understanding with his father, and with himself and his own identity, rather than continuing to display his dissatisfaction with those around him.

The most compelling idea in Charsiu’s post is their interpretation of Art’s motives for interviewing Vladek. Charsiu states: “Artie feels distanced from what Vladek had endured, clawing at scraps of stories in attempts to gain insight into the past.” I feel that Art really dove into Vladek’s story to try to feel and connect with his father in a way. I agree with Charsiu, especially with their quote about Art sometimes wishing that he was in Auschwitz with them since it’s a reflection of Art’s desire to connect with his father. However, Art feels that he may never fully understand his father, this can be evidenced by the fact that in his childhood, Art had felt that he was always in competition with his late brother, Richieu. I really like how later in this post, Charsiu touches upon Vladek’s cheapness and explains how it affects those around him. It’s mentioned that Vladek’s experiences in the Holocaust have shaped his personality today. Vladek, who once had to save rations of food in order to not starve, became very frugal post-war, and he pushed that narrative onto Art. As a result of growing up like this, Art suffers from generational trauma, in a way he is guilty that his family had to suffer through the Holocaust, but he didn’t. Overall, this is a really good post, I love all the quotes in it, they really helped me understand your point!

Originally posted by everlastingauroras on February 11, 2025 10:09

Through a multitude of ways, generational trauma can greatly impact the children of not only holocaust survivors but the children that come after it. The trauma that comes from events such as war has a very deep and great impact on the individual, causing them to exemplify certain behaviors that are specific to what they went through. One key example of this would be the fact that Vladek has his own forms of discrimination. His whole life, Vladek has been discriminated against over things he cannot control--the fact that he is jewish. As a result, different stereotypes have surrounded him his whole life, pushing him to believe that the hitchhiker--the one that is black--is a thief and will hurt them upon entering the car. As a result, although this is not necessarily the case for Artie, children of these survivors end up exhibiting these behaviors, making room for discrimination.

Even though events such as the Holocaust occurred so long ago, this does not change the fact that a lot of these beliefs are still persisting. There are no ways for these beliefs to completely disappear as they are engrained so deeply into our history, and continue to be taught whether purposefully or not. Trauma is a constant. It cannot just simply disappear or be created on a whim, affecting the everyday life of different ancestors. It also seems that the more these different generations learn about events such as the holocaust, the more it continues to live on. Intergenerational transmission of trauma in Spiegelman’s Maus mentions that “His identification with his parents’ affliction becomes so intense that he starts imagining being in Auschwitz” (Stanislav, 2013). Rather than living his own life, Art becomes so immersed in this one, causing him to lose a part of himself to the Holocaust. In some aspects, it is almost like it becomes his own story that he later retells.

In general, when looking at war trauma, there are a lot of different common results from war trauma that are harmful not only to the individual but also to the people surrounding them (the generations that come after them). A novel that I studied back in 10th grade fully exemplifies these things. The Things They Carried is a book that focuses on the Vietnam war, and displays the different ways people deal with trauma. Some people will tend to lash out, hurting the people around them. Some people tend to lack a lot of self-care, hurting themselves and the people who care about them as well. A lot of the time, after being in the military or participating in a war, the survivors will be sensitive to loud noises. Fireworks are common. As a result of this, they tend to shy away from these events, and restrict themselves from different forms of enjoyment because they can’t. Experience is a key part of an adolescents childhood, and a limitation on that is not necessarily positive.

At the same time, certain parts of this can be beneficial. It causes adolescents to be more aware about events as serious and impactful as the holocaust. This allows the children to be more understanding and mindful of how their actions may affect someone else. They can also be fairly well versed in their history. Generational trauma can have positive and negative effects.

The most compelling idea in this post is that traumatic events can cause someone to exemplify certain behaviors that mirror what that person went through. I agree with this idea because it is really hard to forget such traumatic events, leading to those emotions being expressed in day to day life. In my post, I discussed a very similar topic relating to the communication aspect of mirroring traumatic behavior. I discussed the example of Vladek and Artie’s relationship not being too great because Artie wasn’t able to fully understand the actions of Vladek. I found it really interesting to read another perspective of virtually the same idea because I had never really thought about it in terms of physical behavior. Additionally, the idea about trauma being a constant is very true because it really is something that is almost impossible to erase. I discussed in my post that generational trauma is something that will never go away, essentially agreeing with this person’s post. Since learning about someone else’s traumatic experiences can affect a person greatly, it has a significant impact on that person, even if they didn’t live through it themselves. Connecting this to The Things They Carried is also very intriguing because that novel really does showcase the trauma veterans go through on a daily basis in detail. It shows trauma will always live on in someone’s mind, which is a topic that I also discussed in my post.

Originally posted by bluewater on February 11, 2025 12:10

The children of Holocaust survivors never experienced the Holocaust but they experience the effects that it left on their parents. In Art’s life, his father was very strict with him and made an emphasis on saving money and not wasting food. Vladek learned these behaviors from his experience in the Holocaust as he had to cling to his money and rations to survive each day. Art’s mother, Anja, committed suicide after being struck with grief and anguish as a result of the Holocaust. Art can never truly understand what the Holocaust was like but he can only see the impact it left on his parents. Art’s childhood was also difficult as his parents were dealing with grief, anguish, and an array of feelings following the Holocaust. Art might’ve felt neglected or overlooked by his parents who were dealing with a lot on top of parenting. In the article, Intergenerational transmission of Trauma in Spiegelman’s Maus, Stanislav uses a quote from Art’s comic, Prisoner on the Hell Planet and says, “The accusatory tone of Art’s discourse culminates in the last panel when he even criminalizes her: ‘You murdered me, mommy, and you left me here to take the rap!!!’. The use of this part of Art’s comic exemplifies the emotional distress the Holocaust and Anja’s death brought Art as he felt alone and victimized both by Hitler and his mother. He blames Anja for leaving him alone with nobody else and for not leaving any final notes to him. Art might also feel survivor’s guilt as his people experienced something so horrible but he was born into a world where it no longer existed. One example of this would be the death of his older brother Richieu who was found by the SS and was poisoned by his caretaker. Art never felt the horrors and fear of the Holocaust and could feel that he might not be worthy to survive because he never had to go through such challenges. Trauma experienced by communities is passed onto the newer generations who haven’t experienced it and it leaves each generation with a traumatic experience even if they didn’t witness it firsthand. They gain a sense of fear and feel oppressed by other groups who have targeted their community in the past. For example, after slavery ended in the United States, many people carried on their trauma of mistreatment and brutality and passed it on to their children. Family members of former slaves still experience systemic racism as many African American communities struggle with violence, food insecurity, and employment discrimination. I believe that we should live with and acknowledge our generational traumas as moving on without acknowledging them can only lead to more issues. By confronting and dealing with the problem, then we can effectively move on. By not confronting our traumas, I feel that it is forgetting the struggles of our ancestors in a way that we just brush them off and continue to move on with our lives. A good balance of acknowledging our trauma and moving forward would be most beneficial as we recognize our ancestors but move forward in life to break this cycle.

The most compelling idea in this post is the concept of intergenerational trauma, and how the trauma experienced by Holocaust survivors is passed down to their children, even if they did not directly experience it. I agree with this as it reflects the long-lasting impact that traumatic events can have, even on future generations. Trauma doesn’t disappear easily and is exhibited through behaviors, and emotional struggles, as seen in Art’s strained relationship with his parents. This is a strong idea as it connects personal experiences to historical events, making it relatable on an individual and societal level. A similar idea in other posts I’ve read is the discussion of how trauma in one generation can influence the behaviors and emotional health of the next. I also agree with acknowledging trauma as a way to break the cycle. I believe that addressing our past struggles is necessary for healing and moving forward. However, I would add that actively engaging in therapy or community support systems can be equally important steps in this. One suggestion I have to strengthen the post could be to explore potential methods of healing more in-depth, such as practices that survivors or their descendants can use to break the cycle of trauma. Art's survivor guilt could also be expanded on to provide a clearer understanding of how this impacts his emotional development.

Originally posted by greenzebra on February 13, 2025 09:31

Spiegelman’s use of the comic form is effective in conveying the story of his father in the Holocaust in many ways, but is there a line of respect that he is crossing? Art is a large part of culture, a depiction of reality that cannot come through in a normal book. In society, art is so important, consisting of music, dance, paintings, baking, and so much more. The act of a drawing such as this is used to pull emotions from a viewer, certain emotions that cannot be felt with a regular novel. The Holocaust is such a traumatic event, no work of art, or piece of literature could fully express the pain, suffering, and grief that was experienced during that time. But what is the best way to try and depict these overwhelming emotions? Spiegelman’s choice of a comic was an interesting one, and in my opinion, a good one.

Maus books I and II are great depictions of the seriousness of the Holocaust, and the stress of many moments. Vladek, the narrator's father, had an amazing story that was explained well. Throughout the comic, there were many panels that got me on the edge of my seat, because I was so wrapped up in the story that the moments felt real. Looking at images, an example is on page 83 in book I, Anja so desperately did not want to let her son, Richieu, get taken, and here we can see her grief and stress through the dark circles around her eyes. Yes, an author would be able to display her stress through words, but in this situation, the picture of the stress can be more accurately understood. Another example that the comic does a great job of showing is the setting. Throughout the book, there are many instances where we see maps, drawings of what things look like, etc, which are very important to the story. It makes the reader understand more, and be able to picture what was really happening. Instances like this can help the comic flow, and help the reader truly understand the weight of each event. In terms of the integration between the past and present, I believe that the comic was a good way to show that. We can see how Vladek's past impacted his present, and his relationship with Artie. It was a little difficult to see those specific jumps, and to change time periods, so I think a better flow within that would be better and more understandable.

Now let's get back to the question of respect. Does the comic form undermine the seriousness of the Holocaust by depicting it in such a way? In “The Shadow of a Past Time” Spiegelman says “I’m literally giving a form to my fathers words and narrative…as I hope to show…how the medium can make the twisting lines of history readable through form.”

Spiegelman brings up a good point, where the comic thoroughly shows what literally happened, with pictures to go along with it. In a regular novel, the amount of dialogue would be minimal, the ability to picture correct events would be corrupted, but through the comic, all of these ideas are correctly shown, making for a better representation of the story.

First off, great job! All of your points are well-written, clear, and organized well. I have no suggestions about the mechanical aspect of your post, or about the depth of discussion you dive into. I completely agree with the belief that Spiegelman does a good job trying to depict the overwhelming emotions and pain of the Holocaust, even with the simplicity of the comic form. In my opinion, the most compelling idea in your post is how you state that the maps and images allow the reader to better understand the weight of each event. I liked how you provided and explained specific examples of scenes with images that were crucial to the story, like when Anja lost Richieu. I agree with the fact that a traditional novel, with no images, wouldn’t be able to convey Anja’s emotions in this scene as effectively. I also liked how you incorporated a direct quote from Spiegelman in your response. My thoughts align with yours concerning the clever integration between the past and present in the novel. The comic created a flow between the two that was fluid and easy to comprehend. I like the point you make that the reader can see how Vladek's past impacted his present and his relationship with Artie. Overall, amazing job, this was an interesting read.

Originally posted by facinghistory19 on February 10, 2025 21:56

1. Is Spiegelman’s use of the comic form effective in conveying the emotional and historical weight of the Holocaust? How does the format of the graphic novel support movement between past and present, and integration of the two, as Vladek tells his story? What is the argument against the suggestion that the medium lacks the seriousness needed to discuss the Holocaust?

I believe that Spiegelman’s use of the comic form is extremely effective, mainly because of how unconventional it is, and it manages to prove that you can still write a very serious graphic novel that makes you think, they don’t all have to be captain underpants esque. The format of the graphic novel makes transitions in between time move easily, and you can easily tell because the discussions between Artie and Vladek are drawn far differently compared to Vladeks accounts of the camps, but if you decided just to read it, it could get far more confusing, and more muddled up as time goes on. Vladek tells the story, but the tone is different when it shifts to him, it’s not meant to be comical in any sense, while the conversations between Artie and Vladek sometimes are comical, if you just look at what it’s worth from the front without digging deeper. To those who might say “ this comic isn’t serious enough” and that it should never be taken as serious as some novels, objectively, that's wrong. So much crap gets pumped out with books about the Holocaust and genocides that it’s oversaturated as a market, and the quality continues to diminish, the stories told are repetitive, they aren’t unique, it’s always the perfect good jew gets entrapped and must survive against all odds. Comic book or not, Maus isn’t like that in any sense. Vladek is flawed as a character, and so is Artie. They both take advantage of each other in ways, and this all spawns from the Holocaust. Most importantly, Vladek isn’t free of hate after the holocaust, instead, he continues to be racist, and seems to overlook what ahppened to him- saying that it’s different, because the man in the car was black. However, what Vladek fails to realize is that the exact same thing happened to that black man s the Gestapo and S.S. talked about the jews, and until the cycle can be breaken it will continue to happen. The shadow of a past time states “As its grim ending so clearly reveals, Maus does not offer-with sin- cerity-the narrative closure that would seal a traditionally moral story. Maus's last page breaks the frame because it is innovative in its spacing, ontologically suggesting that there is no closure, no "ending,". For me, this is the most perfect description fo the book, because at the end of the day, the book is simple, but real- it’s not the story that's simple, it’s the characters. Long gone are the perfect angels, and the real, imperfect Vladek, and even the real imperfect Artie, both come to show. It’s a layered book as you read into, speaking of current and shared trauma, past trauma, suicide, death, depression, all the boxes are checked, without just describing the camps themselves. In fact, most of the book is spent outside of the camps, and painting for us the background, in it’s beauty. So, if you ask me, is the book worthwhile, is it a valid read despite it’s being a comic. I would respond yes.

The most compelling idea in this post was the idea that Maus’ comic form of storytelling was effective despite being unconventional. I agree with this statement as I too believe that Spiegelman’s way of storytelling displayed his father’s story in a realistic way. The switching between the Holocaust and present day showed both Vladek and Artie’s feelings and showed us their flaws. Both characters had their ups and downs and by showing us both sides, we don’t overly love or hate Vladek and Artie. Artie and Vladek are very realistic as people aren’t just good or bad but rather different shades of gray. Another point you made was that most Holocaust stories paint the survivors as angels who were good and survived against all odds. In reality, most Holocaust survivors and victims were just regular people. Other people who picked this prompt also made the point that the illustrations visualize the Holocaust for the reader and make it much more horrifying. Instead of the author depending on the reader to imagine and interpret the details, they are shown to us alongside the text. I think that this response was really well made and opened me up to some new ideas. The most interesting idea I found here was how mostly all Holocaust stories show the survivors as angels while in reality, they could’ve been anyone and held any beliefs.

Originally posted by Tired on February 12, 2025 07:49

(I accidentally posted on the wrong section, sorry)

Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors through the inheritance of behaviors, to the permanence of guilt that occurs when constantly having to compare themselves to parents and family members who have experienced the worst of the worst.

The children of Holocaust Survivors often feel an large sense of helplessness and guilt, unable to have intervened with their parent’s trauma. They can feel bad, but that’s all they can do– simply feel bad. We see this happen with Artie and the intentions of creating his comic: “[Maus] expresses his regret over what he should have done and has not. As a matter of fact, his narrative is permeated by self-accusation; he ruminates that he might have saved her if he had got home when expected and if he had not been resentful to her attempt to tighten their emotional bond, or, in other words, if he had not suppressed love for her. He feels responsibility for her death because he realizes that his resentment, be it a pose or a sign of the alienation from his parents, could be interpreted as a betrayal.” (Stanislav 5) This reveals that Artie feels much regret for his mother’s death, albeit an uncontrollable fate and he wasn’t even there to stop it from happening. It makes sense that he feels an large part of Anja’s suicide is due to him, since he had pushed her away and now can no longer talk to her. It explains why Artie also calls his dad and “murderer” for burning all the comic books, because to him it felt like the only way to get communication from her now that she’s passed away, the only remnants of her life and what she was like as an person is gone. A part of history is now disappeared, which was not only important to Artie in an work-sense with his comic but also personally painful.

Young people are also effected by the loneliness and the lack of figures to look up to in their lives. The epitome of this example is Richieu in Maus, the son who had died during war, being constantly compared to Artie Spiegelman in Maus, where Richieu is said to have been the ideal child who would have grown up to be the doctor. This reveals the inferiority complex that Artie has, to be compared to his older brother, where even though he was dead, Richieu “never threw tantrums or got in any kind of trouble”, thus Artie “couldn’t compete” (Spiegelman 175). He is suffering the consequences of Richieu’s death, he’s the one who has to take care of father after the war, and he’s the one who will never have a strong emotional bond with his father because he simply cannot fathom an fragment of the pain they went through. It’s also an conflicting feeling since Artie wonders of an life where he did have an older brother, and the possibility of them getting along.

In conclusion, it is possible to move beyond generational trauma, but it requires a lot of communication, venting, and cleaning to ‘purify’ it. Artie Spiegelman has shown throughout his comics that he is learning to talk out his problems, like with his wife Mala and his therapist (Spiegelman 202). Acknowledging what the issue and stem root of your trauma is well, but it’s even more beneficial to confront it and make sure feelings don’t get buried and left under the surface.

I thought this was a very compelling lens with how you structured your response around the perspective of the children of survivors. You described the guilt and alienation that companions often feel when they have no way of truly grasping these horrors themselves, and wanting to be supportive but still finding themselves unequipped. It was a notion that I considered a lot when reading Maus, as I’d been torn between disliking Artie for seemingly only wanting to profit off of Vladek’s story, while also understanding how helpless he’d felt all his life to genuinely connect with his father through these precursory events. It was also interesting how you delved into the loneliness of these children, whose parents, haunted by their pasts, aren’t necessarily able to offer the same connectedness they might have otherwise. I also appreciated the glimpse into the parents’ side as well, acknowledging that the life stories such as Vladek’s are not something one can simply grow away from, no matter how much one might try to. In addition, the idea of this gap between the two being bridged with heartfelt conversation, rather than something for the sole sake of wanting to brush aside the lingering issues in question, was one I not only agreed with, but thought was beautifully phrased. All in all this was an enlightening read, and I appreciate how thoughtfully and empathetically you approached this topic.

Originally posted by greenzebra on February 13, 2025 09:31

Spiegelman’s use of the comic form is effective in conveying the story of his father in the Holocaust in many ways, but is there a line of respect that he is crossing? Art is a large part of culture, a depiction of reality that cannot come through in a normal book. In society, art is so important, consisting of music, dance, paintings, baking, and so much more. The act of a drawing such as this is used to pull emotions from a viewer, certain emotions that cannot be felt with a regular novel. The Holocaust is such a traumatic event, no work of art, or piece of literature could fully express the pain, suffering, and grief that was experienced during that time. But what is the best way to try and depict these overwhelming emotions? Spiegelman’s choice of a comic was an interesting one, and in my opinion, a good one.

Maus books I and II are great depictions of the seriousness of the Holocaust, and the stress of many moments. Vladek, the narrator's father, had an amazing story that was explained well. Throughout the comic, there were many panels that got me on the edge of my seat, because I was so wrapped up in the story that the moments felt real. Looking at images, an example is on page 83 in book I, Anja so desperately did not want to let her son, Richieu, get taken, and here we can see her grief and stress through the dark circles around her eyes. Yes, an author would be able to display her stress through words, but in this situation, the picture of the stress can be more accurately understood. Another example that the comic does a great job of showing is the setting. Throughout the book, there are many instances where we see maps, drawings of what things look like, etc, which are very important to the story. It makes the reader understand more, and be able to picture what was really happening. Instances like this can help the comic flow, and help the reader truly understand the weight of each event. In terms of the integration between the past and present, I believe that the comic was a good way to show that. We can see how Vladek's past impacted his present, and his relationship with Artie. It was a little difficult to see those specific jumps, and to change time periods, so I think a better flow within that would be better and more understandable.

Now let's get back to the question of respect. Does the comic form undermine the seriousness of the Holocaust by depicting it in such a way? In “The Shadow of a Past Time” Spiegelman says “I’m literally giving a form to my fathers words and narrative…as I hope to show…how the medium can make the twisting lines of history readable through form.”

Spiegelman brings up a good point, where the comic thoroughly shows what literally happened, with pictures to go along with it. In a regular novel, the amount of dialogue would be minimal, the ability to picture correct events would be corrupted, but through the comic, all of these ideas are correctly shown, making for a better representation of the story.

I agree with the first point about art being able to pull emotions out of the viewer in a way that could never be achieved in a “regular novel” or just any type of literature. This is because I think everyone would agree that seeing something depicted in a visual way is always much easier than reading a description of it. This facilitation of understanding helps bring out stronger emotions out of people as they are able to comprehend the situation more clearly and even imagine themselves in that situation, providing a stronger sense of emphasis on the spectator. Furthermore I also agree with the writer’s opinion about Spiegelman’s choice of using a comic book since, as previously mentioned, the literature including images is able to further provide a reader with stronger emotions about the events being depicted. Although some may even view comic books as childish due to its nature in other stories, I agree that many panels in the story were able to keep me, as the reader, “at the edge of my seat” because the images help further understand the seriousness of certain events in the story. I also agree with what is mentioned at the end. The author is literally telling his father’s story so how would it be disrespectful if he is truly giving the story of a person who went through the holocaust personally.

I really liked your ideas and I totally agree with what you had to say. I think that the trauma that one undergoes, especially in events as serious as the Holocaust, can carry into later generations and affect the way those children live almost equally to the way it affected those who actually went through the traumatic experience. I really liked the connection that you made to The Things They Carried, because I definitely was reminded of that book a lot when reading Maus. People are held back by trauma because it causes them to be afraid, even in everyday life, of things that are not dangerous or harmful. It prevents people from being able to do things that other people might consider “normal” such as watching fireworks or, in the case of Maus, never wanting to get rid of things because he was trained to have this mindset during the Holocaust. I also like how you highlighted some positives at the end as well. While trauma and war certainly do have their negative effects, it is important to highlight the fact that society has been able to grow as a result of these things, and generational trauma allows children to be more aware about certain issues in the world as they grow up, bring awareness to those issues, and hopefully help as society takes steps forward to avoid similar issues in the future.

Originally posted by PinkWaterbottle on February 11, 2025 16:45

The chaos and destruction of the Holocaust are proven to have left its survivors with trauma and internal turmoil that affects them and the following generations for the majority, if not the entirety, of their lives. Artie Spiegelman effectively showcases this phenomenon in Maus, as he has a rocky relationship with his father, which can be directly linked to the infamous genocide of 6 million Jewish people. Through his father, Vladek, readers can see just how the relationship between parents and their children is affected. Vladek is portrayed with “an almost unbearable frugality, pedantry, authoritativeness”, one of the many factors that began a strain between Artie and his father (Stanislav 236). Spiegelman tries his best to spend as little time with his father as possible to prevent losing his head over an argument caused by their contrasting personalities. He even goes as far as to shut Vladek up by cutting him off whenever he goes on one of his tangents. Art gains insight into why his father behaves the way he does, but to no avail, their relationship remains stagnant. There exist psychological consequences that arise for the child from an estranged relationship with a surviving parent. Maus depicts depression and incompetence, a couple of the several feelings the offspring of survivors have the possibility of adopting, through Art’s late brother Richieu, who died during the Holocaust. Additionally, Spiegelman explicitly details harboring “some kind of guilt about having an easier life than [his parents] did” (16).

It is clear that Artie has little to no patience with his father due to the resentment that has bubbled up throughout his life. This resentment generally manifests in the way the traumatized parent raises their children, passing on the trauma. We see from Maus how the Holocaust impacts a parent-son relationship, but this genocide can also affect other aspects of second-generation survivors’ lives. Beyond Artie’s depicted emotions, some can experience biological changes, feeling like they’re undeserving of success or happiness, social detachment, and much more.

Trauma could also translate into the desire to tell the stories of their parents, like Artie’s. However, feelings of overwhelmedness and/or confusion may surface during or after crafting the work. Spiegelman reflects this at the beginning of the second chapter of Maus II, when he draws himself depressed and masked, a metaphor for his personal feelings of phoniness when it comes to his Jewish identity.

Considering the endless consequences that come from generational trauma, it is not possible to simply move past and ignore it. Traumatic experiences can creep into one’s social, psychological, and physical well-being, as shown through Holocaust survivors and their offspring. This is proven through other notorious major events. For example, forgetting the impacts of slavery, another disturbing event that killed millions, and its effects on America since abolition would lead citizens to ignore the injustices Black people faced and continue to face in the modern-day. Living with and addressing all the factors of trauma, including the history behind it and its aftermath, is the only way to make steps towards officially moving forward from it without forgetting its influence.

I find your post compelling in how you address the passing down of trauma. You claim that Art Spiegelman was affected by his father's experiences during the Holocaust, and I fully agree with that. We can see the effects throughout the novel, as you've pointed out. A big factor in Art and Vladek's strained relationship is caused by Vladek's trauma. As a result of the Holocaust he became "unbearably" frugal, which resulted in Art being traumatized in his own childhood. Furthermore, even past his childhood Art found it hard to interact with Vladek because he would often show this frugality and other traits out in public. It seems as if Art is only putting up with his father, but can't seem to spend time with him in a deeper manner. This trauma may also be the reason why Art wanted to tell Vladek's story through his art. Although their own relationship started off strained, we see Art and Vladek grow closer over the course of the story as Art learns more about his father's past. I also like how you mention how generational trauma is so pervasive. Even when identified it's hard to know how or to what extent it is affecting a person mentally, emotionally and physically. One more thing I enjoyed in your response was how you tied it to other examples of mass generational trauma, like the trauma that African Americans face, due to slavery.