Honors Composition

Study Questions for Spiegelman's Maus, Vol. 1, Ch. 5

1. What does the drain-pipe incident show us about Art's relationship with his father?

2. Discuss Art's comic strip "Prisoner on the Hell Planet."
   How does Mala react to the strip? Vladek?

3. After they are relocated from Sosnowiec to Srodula, what happens to the family?
   Shortly afterward, what happens to many children in Srodula? What later happens in Zawiercie (where Tosha and the children have gone)?

4. How do Vladek and his family survive in Srodula?

5. How do they get arrested by the Gestapo and how are they able to get out of detention?

6. What kind of person is Haskel Spiegelman? What is his fate? How does Vladek feel about him?

7. What happens to the people who decide to bribe the Germans and leave the bunker?

8. How do Anja and Vladek eventually get out of the ghetto?

9. What does Vladek have in his safe deposit box?
   How does he feel about Mala? Do you think his characterization of her is accurate?