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Theme
In times of danger, you have to be smart and take risks in order to survive. -
Warnings for the Start of the War
Summary: They are riding through the city and they see the Germans starting to invade.
Turning Point: It is the start of their suffering and they're starting to get worried about it. Their life is about to change greatly.
It brings fear to them.
Connection to Theme: This is just the start and basis of the whole war. It is when they are going to start taking all these risks and making sacrifices in order to survive. -
Vladek gets drafted for war to serve the Polish army
Summary: Vladek goes to war after getting a letter that called him to it.
Turning Point:This is one of the first parts for when Vladek gets involved with war. It is his first time of danger.
Connection to Theme: He is taking the risk so that he could save his family. He makes the decision to go because he wants to protect Anja and Richieu. This is the first warning sign of the war and Anja goes to somewhere safe and he goes towards the frontier. He knows that they won't be safe is he doesn't go. -
Vladek Disguises as a Polish in Order to Get Back to His Family
Summary: He convinces a Polish train worker that he was polish so that he could get back to Sosnowiec.
Positive Character Development: This is helping him get to his family. He is doing whatever he can to get back home. He ended up getting back to his family.
Connection to Theme: He could've been caught and beaten but he was willing to take the risk. He knew there was no other way so he did it and it worked! He was smart enough to use his army uniform to show that he was polish not jewish -
Vladek does illegal acts to help provide for his family
Summary: Vladek is buying food and materials without coupons because he has no job or money. People got caught and hung.
Positive Character Development: Even though it's risky, he is doing it to help his family survive. He is doing it to provide for his family.
Connection to Theme: Vladek is taking a big risk of getting killed just so that his family can survive and so that they don't starve. He is willing to do anything to help his family survive. -
Vladek decides to send Richieu to a safe place
Summary: All the jewish people were taken to the ghetto and Vladek wants the kids to go to Zawiercie.
Positive Character Development: This is good because he convinced Anja that the family needed to split up. He wanted Richieu to be safe and not suffer from whatever the germans would do.
Connection to Theme: He had no other choice and he wanted the best for his kid. Even though they didn't want to split up the family, he did it to give a chance to save his child. -
Vladek pays his cousin so that he could escape and not get treated poorly
Summary: The jews are getting sent to Aushwitz. He pays his cousin to help him get out of the ghetto.
Negative Character Development: He is taking more chances and it's causing him to just give up everything to survive. He also won't be able to take his in laws which upsets Anja, but they got to do what they got to do to survive.
Connection to Theme:This is his last resort and he though quickly so he could be saved. He is risking getting caught by the guards and he could die. He's saving himself -
Vladek and Anja snuck away and went into hiding
Summary: They snuck to Sosnowiec where they found their friend. Their friend took them in and they hid from the Germans.
Turning Point:They only have each other now and they are doing whatever they can to survive. They are forced to go into hiding and they can't really go outside and live an everyday life anymore.
Connection to Theme:They are giving up their family to go into hiding in order to survive. They hide there for a year and adapt to the space so that they aren't killed in Aushwitz. -
Vladek and Anja get sent to Aushwitz
Summary: In an attempt to escape to Hungary, Vladek and Anja get caught when Gestapos raided the train and caught them. They were taken to Aushwitz.
Turning Point: This is a bad time and now they're going to have toe experience some unforgettable torture. It has changed their lives even more.
Connection to Theme: They tried to sneak and hide again to Hungary but they didn't succeed. They tried doing their best to survive but in the end they got caught and they couldn't avoid their fate.
