MAUS
In what sense do Vladek’s troubles begin only after he has been sent to Auschwitz? Why might Spiegelman use this quotation as the title for this chapter?
I. “Here My Troubles Began”1. One of the last chapters in Maus is entitled, “. . . And Here My Troubles Began.” Is there anything odd about this chapter title? In this chapter, Vladek describes his horrific experience of being transported in an overcrowded train car from Auschwitz to Dachau. He observes that the inhabitants of the train are left to starve for weeks; and he reports that of the 200 people who were packed into a single train car, only “25 people came out”. Yet it is only after describing the arrival of this train in Dachau that Vladek asserts, “Here, in Dachau, my troubles began”. In what sense do Vladek’s troubles begin only after he has been sent to Auschwitz? Why might Spiegelman use this quotation as the title for this chapter?