Catherine's Blog on War

How does fear influence the characters actions? For example when all the Jews were called to go to the stadium in chapter 4 and they all went out of fear for what would happen if they didn’t go.

Throughout the graphic novel, the characters’ actions are driven by fear. Vladek and Anja fear different things, which causes a difference in choices made. Vladek fears of not leading a life like it was before the war. Since he can pass for a German, he constantly searches for food and a safe place to live. He knows that he has to pay a significant amount of money, but he is willing to do it as long as he and Anja are living comfortably. Vladek always searches to do business with others, in terms of food coupons, living arrangements, and work papers. He risked being caught with sugar to trade for some coupons. Even as a prisoner, he wrote letters for other to gain some food for Anja. Overall, Vladek was driven by the fear of not having enough food and proper living spaces that he always went out to look for them.

On the other hand, Anja feared getting caught by the German gestapo. She refused to let her son go to another location to hide and disliked it when her husband went out to do business. Also, She was wanted to the whole family to stick together and make sure that they were all safe. For that reason, she always hid when Vladek was out. She came from a large family, so having lost a lot of them made her feel a sense of loneliness. She wanted to stay in one location that felt like home, such as at the Montonowa’s. I think she got along well with Mrs. Montonowa’s son because she missed her own son and family, She didn’t want to leave for Hungary even though Abraham sent a reassuring letter of his safe arrival. Her fear of getting caught and losing others resulted in her strong opinion to stay in one place. The differences in Vladek and Anja’s actions are driven by their different fears.