Survival of the Frugal-est Stacey Justo College

The Holocaust was devastating to the Jewish community and millions died, yet some managed to survive. Among those which survived was Vladek, father of author Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman wrote Maus, a graphic novel about Vladek’s survival of the Holocaust. Although the story is centered around Vladek’s story, Spiegelman explores his relationship with his father as well as some of the remaining trauma Vladek continues to unknowingly struggle with. Vladek survived the Holocaust and continued to survive it every day of his life afterwards. Spiegelman manages to depict how Vladek coped with having experienced the Holocaust while also illustrating how this experience continued to affect the relationship between him and his father, however well-meaning Vladek may have been. Spiegelman’s wife, Francoise once says of Vladek’s survival, “…in some ways, he didn’t survive” (250, p.2). Francoise’s adept observation can be viewed as an explanation to many of Vladek’s quirks, mainly his hoarding and frugality.

Spiegelman often mentions his father had preference for his deceased brother, yet throughout the novel there are several instances in which Vladek shows his appreciation and need for his son, though often obscured by his frugal,...