Survival Through Adaptation in Maus II
In Vladik’s situation, before someone can thrive and be successful, they must first ensure that they can make it to the nest day. Below are excerpts from the critically acclaimed graphic novel Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale. Art Spiegelman, through first hand interviews, writes about his father Vladik’s experience in Auschwitz. Throughout the novel, Vladik simply did what was necessary to survive in the concentration camps. He utilized his job experience as much as possible to obtain the best jobs he could find in the camps, even if that meant pretending he was skilled at a job that he had only seen performed. But because of the grievous conditions at Auschwitz, and the fact that skilled workers were treated incrementally better, he was able to fake his way through it until he became accomplished at his job. Vladik also had to depend upon bribery to survive. Even though food was scarce and a precious commodity, he sometimes needed to trade it for other things in order to survive. In one instance, Vladik trades his food to the man overseeing his job to ensure that he will remain in the position he’s in. Vladik’s struggle to survive under the bleakest conditions is an extreme example of the main theme of The Prince, but the idea that we all do what we must to make it to the next day is a universal burden.
In this excerpt of Maus II, Vladik volunteers to teach English to a Polish guard. In return, the guard secures Vladik’s survival by providing food and clothes that fit.
Above, Vladik learns the only way to secure his job as a tinman is y bribing the man in charge. Unfortunately, it costs him his food, something hard to come by in the camps.
Once crammed into the train, Vladik used what he had to suspend himself above the other prisoners. This proved to save his life while others were being crushed to death.
Vladik prides himself on ‘knowing how to do everything.’ As a shoemaker, Vladik had more food, clothes, and a warmer place to sleep.
In order to make sure that he survived after he obtained an infection, Vladik intuitively made it worse so he could go where he knew he would be taken care of. If he had not done so, the harsh conditions outside the infirmary might have taken his life.
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