Maus I Questions, Prologue-Chapter 2 Name:____________________
"Prologue"
1. What is your first impression of Vladek Spiegelman? What does his remark about friends suggest
about his personality? How does it foreshadow revelations later in the book?
"The Sheik"
2. What has happened to Artie's mother?
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? What do you think 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. On page 12 we see a close-up of Vladek as he pedals his exercise bicycle. What is the meaning of
the numbers tattooed on his wrist? How does this single image manage to convey information
that might occupy paragraphs of text?
"The Honeymoon"
7. What is Vladek doing when Artie comes to visit him? How does his health figure elsewhere in
the book?
8. How does Vladek become wealthy?
9. 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)? Why, on page 125, is the road that Vladek and Anja travel on their
way back to Sosnowiec also shaped like a swastika? What other symbolic devices does the author
use in this book?
