Maus 2 Chapter 2: Time Flies Flashcards

Questions and Answers

What information do we get at the beginning of Chapter Two?

That in August 18, 1982 Vladek died of congestive heart failure.

How are history and the present intertwined here?

As Art is beginning to be successful and expecting his first child, he feels depressed, nothing he ever accomplishes in his life will ever compare to his father's surviving the Holocaust. His father's experience is now part of who he is.

How is Art depicted and what does his room look like?

He is a human wearing a mouse mask, his room has flies and hundreds of dead mouse bodies on the floor.

Discuss Art's meeting with his psychiatrist. What ideas and attitudes are expressed here?

That Art feels more guilt because he has represented his father as annoying and negative. This guilt adds to his own survivor's guilt. Perhaps Vladek's survivor's guilt was passed on to Art. Signup and view all the answers

Why does the psychiatrist call Art the 'real survivor'?

He was the one who never had to experience the Holocaust and thereby survived it all. Signup and view all the answers

What does the psychiatrist suggest about Holocaust literature?

That even knowing the horrors of the Holocaust has not stopped genocide, and that people need these experiences to personally touch them to change. Signup and view all the answers

At the beginning, what is Vladek's life like in Auschwitz and how does he get Yidl to treat him well?

He works as a tinshop without experience. Yidl does not like him because he knows that Vladek was a capitalist and Yidl is a communist. Vladek arranges to get him sausages and food. Signup and view all the answers

How does Vladek make contact with Anja, and how is she managing?

He passes notes to her through Mancie who helps Anja because Mancie is having an affair with an SS guard. Signup and view all the answers

Discuss Vladek's survival skills in this chapter. For example, how does he fix the Gestapo soldier's boot?

Vladek makes deals to get food to bribe the kapos, takes a ripped boot from Anja's Kapo to another prisoner who can repair boots, and offers him a day's ration of bread to fix the boot. Vladek saves cigarettes and food to bribe the guards to get Anja assigned to new barracks. Signup and view all the answers

Comment on the description of the crematoriums and cremation pits.

The prisoners are taken underground where they undress because they believe they are taking showers, they are gassed, then the bodies are brought up to the ground floor on elevators where they are burned. Signup and view all the answers

Art asks his father why the Jews didn't try to resist. How does Vladek respond?

That it would do no good, there were hundreds of Germans with guns and the Jews had nothing. Those who tried to resist were murdered and even their friends or others in the barracks were killed as well. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Chapter Overview

Vladek died on August 18, 1982, due to congestive heart failure.
Art grapples with his father's Holocaust survival, feeling that his own achievements pale in comparison.

Art's Complexity

Art is portrayed as a human beneath a mouse mask, symbolizing his struggle with identity.
His living environment is distressed, littered with dead mice, reflecting his internal chaos.

Psychological Insights

Art's psychiatrist highlights Art's guilt over portraying his father negatively, suggesting this guilt stems from survivor's guilt passed on from Vladek.

Survivor's Perspective

Art is called the "real survivor" since he did not endure the Holocaust but carries the weight of his father's experiences.

Genocide and Human Nature

The psychiatrist questions the impact of Holocaust literature, suggesting people's awareness has not eradicated genocide.
Opinions vary on whether personal experiences are necessary for change.

Vladek's Life in Auschwitz

Vladek works in a tinshop amidst animosity from Yidl, who is a communist; Vladek wins Yidl's favor by providing food.

Communication with Anja

Vladek uses Mancie to discreetly send notes to Anja, who is receiving help due to Mancie's affair with an SS guard.

Survival Strategies

Vladek leverages his resources, bribing kapos with food to secure favors, and trades bread for boot repairs to assist Anja.

Horrors of the Crematorium

Descriptions reveal the brutal process where prisoners, believing they are entering showers, are gassed and subsequently cremated.

Resistance and Powerlessness

Vladek explains the futility of Jewish resistance against armed Germans, noting that those who resisted often faced execution alongside bystanders.

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Description

Explore the key concepts from Chapter 2 of Maus 2, 'Time Flies'. This chapter delves into the intertwining of past and present as Art Spiegelman grapples with his father's Holocaust experiences amidst his own life events. Test your understanding with these flashcards!