Fight, Flight and Strife

In Maus, the Holocaust is illustrated as, we would assume, a very demanding experience. Meaning, Vladek's life during the Holocaust causes his own personality, motives, and basic character traits to evolve for survivability. Vladek has to become more manipulative and cunning in order to ensure that he was what he needs to make it out of the camps alive. For example, Vladek seeks out shoe repair for the "large shop" in the camp in order to learn the expertise to do it himself. As a result, he then steals business from the "large shop," so he will receive food and commodities as form of payment for his services. Additionally, Vladek befriends as many people as possible. Because of his intellect and ability to speak multiple languages, Vladek is successful in befriending Jewish guards and Nazi guards at the camps. These friendships yield extra food and clothing for survival. 

In essence, Vladek morphing his character into "survival mode," or "fight or flight" during the Holocaust, changed his character after the war as well. This effected Art's upbringing, as we was raised by a father who exhibited traits of life during wartime. Vladek attempts to pass on ideologies to his son, Art, that would seem only necessary in a concentration camp. However, as Art ages, he rejects the actions of his father, and this causes an excess of turmoil in their relationship. For Vladek, it seems impossible to revert back to the mentality he presumably had before the war, but Art, although separate in time from the war, is raised as if the war is still continuing. Art finds this troublesome. 

Maus is successful at illustrating the relationship between Art and Vladek because the scenes in the novel change from Vladek's war stories to the present day when Art and Vladek are communicating. Because of this, the reader is able to visually see the struggle and strife that exists in Art and Vladek's relationship. Moreover, one can trace the correlation between Vladek's life during the Holocaust and the turmoil between Art and Vladek.