Maus IOP: Psychological effects of Trauma Life is a constant learning experience. We learn new things through our experiences and actions each and every day. All of these experiences influence our personality, morals, beliefs and behaviour. Life is a journey that has both positive and negative aspects. The adversity faced in life can be perceived as challenge that one may overcome or succumb to. These experiences that occur during life test our character and abilities. I would like everyone right now to close their eyes and recollect a traumatic experience that once occurred in your life. Try to remember the emotions you felt at that time and then think about how that traumatic experience affected you as an individual. Depending…show more content… Throughout the graphic novel, Vladek is constantly faced with trials and tribulations that he must persevere through in order to survive. His actions display both his characteristics and abilities.
Vladek portrayed as resourceful, intelligent, ambitious and kind. He also possesses mental fortitude that allows him to persevere through adversity. An example of these traits is on page 124 when Anja states she just want to die; Vladek then tells her that dying is easy and that life you have to endure adversity in order to survive. This displays Vladek’s ability to endure. All of these characteristics were able to help him survive through the holocaust.
Another important character in the graphic novel was Anja, Vladek’s wife. Anja is portrayed as intelligent, anxious and does not possess mental fortitude. Anja is shown to know a variety of languages which had helped Vladek during the war. During the graphic novel, Anja is able to survive through these harsh experiences thanks to the people that support her. Vladek is shown being supportive to Anja both physically and mentally. In Auschwitz, Mancie aids Anja survival by being a helpful hand and providing communication to her husband. Without the support of her friends and family, Anja would not be able to survive through the…show more content… Vladek is shown as a resourceful man who is able to scrounge up food, shelter and water for survival. He is able to resource mange so he is able to survive through the Holocaust more easily. Anja is shown not to be really resourceful and is dependent on Vladek for her basic needs. Vladek is shown to be mentally strong. He is able to calmly able to assess the situation and come up with a solution to the problem. This ability helps him and others close to him survive. Some examples of this are when he created a hammock inside of the train in order to rest and how they hid the grandparents (page 88). Anja is intelligent in the academic sense; she is fluent in a variety of languages. Even though she is book smart, she is not socially smart. Anja does not have the ability to talk her way out of a stressful situation and act calm. Vladek is shown to remain calm even when a German man called “The Shooter” had threatened him with a gun. If Anja was put into a similar situation she would have cracked under the pressure. This displays Vladek’s mental fortitude and