Maus I Reading Questions

Directions: Write the answers to the questions on in your interactive notebook. Use complete sentences.

Maus – Chapter 1 “The Sheik” (pp. 9-23)

1.) In what point of view is the novel written? How will this affect our understanding?
2.) What has happened to Artie's mother? Make an inference about how this might have affected Vladek.
3.) How does Vladek get along with Mala, his second wife? What kind of things do they argue about?
4.) How long has it been since Artie last visited his father? Make an inference about what is responsible for their separation.
5.) How does Vladek respond when Artie first asks him about his life in Poland? Why might he be reluctant to talk about those
years?
6.) Describe Vladek's relationship with Lucia Greenberg. Make an inference about why he chose Anja over Lucia.
7.) What did Vladek want Artie to do at the end of Chapter 1? Did he listen? Why do you think Artie made this decision?
8.) What conflicts could you predict Art might have in writing this book? Why? (Consider who he needs to interview for this
book to happen.)
9.) Time jumps and interruptions occur throughout the novel. How does the novel present a story within a story? How does this
writing style help develop the contrast of young Vladek with present day Vladek?

Maus – Chapter 2 “The Honeymoon” (pp. 25-40)

1.) What is Vladek doing when Artie comes to visit him? What does this suggest about his health?
2.) What gets Anja in trouble, and how does Vladek react? How does she get out of it?
3.) What happens to Anja after Richieu’s birth? Where does she go?
4.) Why does the artist place a swastika in the background of the panels that depict the plight of Jews in Hitler's Germany (p.
33)?
5.) How is the atmosphere at the asylum different from what is happening in the rest of the country? How is it the same? Draw
and fill out the Venn diagram below to show the similarities and differences.
Asylum Rest of the country

6.) Why doesn’t Vladek tell the doctor in the hospital about his glass eye? Make an inference about Vladek’s character based
on his behavior.
7.) How does present day Vladek’s personality compared to his past self? How has the Holocaust likely affected his character?
8.) How does the grammatical structure of Vladek's narration compare to his dialogue in flashbacks? Why does he speak
perfect English in flashbacks, but broken English in the present?

Maus – Chapter 3 “Prisoners of War” (pp. 41-69)

1.) When Artie refused to finish his food as a child, what did Vladek do? What did Anja do? How does this characterize their
difference in parental leniency?
2.) Why was Vladek's father so reluctant to let him serve in the Polish army? What means did he use to keep him out for one
year?
3.) What is the meaning of the beard and skullcap that Vladek's father is shown wearing in the panels on p. 46? What happens
to his beard later on?
4.) After finding the soldier he killed, what did Vladek most likely mean when he said, “Well, at least I did something” (50)?
5.) How did the Germans treat Vladek and other Jewish prisoners after transporting them to the Reich? How was this different
from their treatment of Polish P.O.W.s?
6.) What is the significance of Vladek's dream about his grandfather? What recurring meaning does "Parshas Truma" have in
his life?
7.) How does Vladek prove to be a leader and intelligent during his time as a prisoner of war?
8.) How does Vladek arrange to be reunited with his wife and son? What visual device does Spiegelman use to show him
disguising himself as a Polish Gentile?
 Maus – Chapter 4 “The Noose Tightens” (pp. 71-93)

1.) Although Jews were allowed only limited rations under the Nazi occupation, Vladek manages to circumvent these
restrictions for a while. How does he support himself and his family?
2.) At the start of the chapter, what two things do Art and his father, Vladek, argue about? What does this reveal about
Vladek’s character and their father-son relationship?
3.) What is happening p. 80? On this page, Vladek is framed by a panel shaped like a Jewish star. How does this device
express his situation at that moment?
4.) Describe the ghetto into which Vladek’s family moves. What did it look like, what was difficult about living there, and how
did they survive?
5.) Explain the events on p. 83. Why are they punished and left there for one week?
6.) The Nazis eventually pick up Anja’s grandparents. How do the Nazis disguise their intentions, and where do her
grandparents ultimately go?
7.) How were Jews divided at the stadium? What happened to Vladek's father? What does the scene on pp. 90-91 suggest
about the ways in which some Jews died and others survived?
8.) What is Art looking for at the end of the chapter? Why do you think he is looking for them? How would it change the novel?

Maus – Chapter 5 “Mouse Holes” (pp. 95-109)

1.) What is “Prisoner on the Hell Planet”? How is this comic different from Maus? How is it similar?
2.) Why did Anja finally consent to send Richieu away? How did he die? Was his death "better" than the fate of the children
depicted on p. 108?
3.) Describe the strategies that Vladek used to conceal Anja and himself during the liquidation of the ghetto. How did the
Germans flush them from hiding?
4.) On p. 116, Vladek refers to Haskel as a “kombinator”. What is a “kombinator”? Why does Vladek call Haskel a
“kombinator”? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
5.) What does the incident on pp. 118-119 tell us about relations between Jews and Germans? Does the knowledge that some
Nazis fraternized with their victims make their crimes more or less horrible?
6.) How did Vladek care for Anja after the destruction of the Srodula ghetto? Contrast his behavior toward his first wife, during
the worst years of the war, with the way he treats Mala. Why do you think he remarried?
7.) What visual symbol does the author use on p. 125? Why do you think he has chosen this particular symbol and how does
it help convey the characters feelings on the page?
8.) Why is “Mouse Holes” an appropriate title for this chapter?

Maus – Chapter 6 "Mouse Trap" (pp. 129-159)

1.) On p. 136 Vladek says that he was able to pass for a member of the Gestapo but that Anja's appearance was more Jewish.
What visual device does Spiegelman use to show the difference between them?
2.) One of the themes of Maus is “Friendship and family relationships are tested when lives are at stake.” How has that been
represented in this chapter?
3.) Given the fact that the Spiegelmans are "mice," what is the significance of the panels on p. 147, in which Vladek and Anja's
hiding place turns out to be infested with rats? Why might the author have portrayed this incident?
4.) Chapter 6 shows us how Vladek and Anja hid from the Nazis, once they were separated from the rest of their family. Could
they have hid in all the same places if they still had Richieu with them? Explain with specific examples.
5.) Why does Vladek ride in the official streetcar with the Germans, rather than in the second car with the Poles?
6.) Why does Vladek want to flee to Hungary? What is wrong with their living situation? Explain.
7.) Why does Artie call his father a murderer? Is he justified? Who else has he called a murderer, and why?
8.) What does this ending tell us about the relationship between Artie and Vladek? Consider his dedications/thank you on the
copyright page. What do you think of this? Do you think that Anja and Vladek would approve of this ending? Explain.