Thursday, September 9, 2010

Blog #2

I can definetly understand why Mala and Vladek's marriage is much worse then Anna and Vladek's marriage. Vladek's one true love was and still is Anna, so he always compares Mala to Anna which is why everything Mala does is wrong, because she is so much different then Anna. What I do not understand is why Vladek decided to marry Mala in the first place? I don't see how they could ever get along, all she cares about is money and all he cares about is her mistakes in running the house. It was almost frustrating to me to read the book whenever the two would get into a fight because that is how Artie would write those scenes. I think having the visual part there made it better to understand because you can see the expressions on the people's face when they are sad or mad. It is very hard to show expression with just words, but the words also ephasis the expression because its how to show why a person is mad or what they are saying without words. Vladek's marriage with Anna was very rough during the holacaust and it made them much closer, but Anna's suicide has made him think that women cannot be trusted no matter what. He doesn't realize that he is comparing Mala to Anna which is what is causing his anger. What Mala doesn't realize about his money problem is that she didn't witness first hand what it is like to lose everything you own, even when you are very rich because of an event like the holocaust. Vladek likes to save everything he has in case an event like that ever happens again, he can be sure that his family will remain safe and well fed with all the valuables and money he has saved up. Mala doesn't understand this because she was probably younger then Vladek when this happened and she had someone else take of her, so she only has terrible memories of the events throughout the Holocaust. Artie never experienced anything to do with the holocaust, so he probably thinks both his father and step-mother are crazy
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4 comments:

  1. ArianaSeptember 10, 2010 at 9:48 AM

    Ashley - I think you made a good point about how Vladek holds Anna as the standard for all other women in his life, including Mala. He holds such a high opinion of his late wife that I think it would be impossible for anyone to live up to it. I also agree with what you said about Vladek wanting to save his money in the event another catastrophe like the Holocaust were to happen. I think that as a result of the Holocaust, the instinct to hoard and save for the future is bred into Vladek. He is so set in his ways that he doesn't recognize that changing times call for a change in actions.

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  2. KevinSeptember 12, 2010 at 12:30 PM

    I like how you asked why it is that Vladek and Mala got married in the first place, and while I can't really give an answer to that, I think its interesting that Art never included any evidence in the text showing that perhaps the two once needed each other. We can guess that at one point they had both been very lonely and still haunted by what had happened to them during the holocaust, which could easily be reasons as to why they initially got married. However, as you said, its pretty easy to see that whatever need they once had for each other has long since evaporated.

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  3. CatherineSeptember 12, 2010 at 7:40 PM

    personally, i think the reason why vladek got remarried is because he was always so used to having a woman do all the household tasks. he grew up in a time when women did all the house work and things of that nature so being alone would be difficult for him. also he may have wanted to stave off feelings of loneliness. however, i do agree with your views of why they always seem to be fighting. mala is simply not anja and anja was his true love. they had a bond he could never re-create with mala.

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  4. Hoss WashingtonSeptember 12, 2010 at 9:06 PM

    I agree one hundred persent on questioning why Vladek married Mala. I guess it may be because he would probably get lonely. After havin Anja all his life and then she is gone would be tough. Also, his son stays as far away from him as possible it seems. Even with that reason of being lonely Mala still seems to drive him nuts through the story which in turn did drive some of us nuts too.

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