The relationship between Vladik and his son, Artie, is very complicated. Vladik has seen and been through so much that he seems to have a hard time living in the now. He’s so consumed with his past that he spends all his time in the present planning for the future. A Clear example of this is when he picks up the wire that is in the street. It’s trash, but he sees it as valuable because it was rare and useful during the Holocaust. He wants to be prepared in case something of that nature happens again. Artie seems so wrapped up in his father’s story that he dismisses who his father became. Maybe Artie feels that by hearing his father’s survivor story he can better understand who he is now.
Towards the middle of the novel it seemed as though Artie and his father were going to put aside some differences and become closer until Vladik revealed that he had burned his wife’s journals. As soon as Vladik told Artie that he had burnt the journal because they were too much of a reminder after his wife’s death Artie immediately called his father a murderer. I wasn’t sure why exactly he called his father a murderer because Anja committed suicide. Maybe Artie meant Vladik killed his mother’s memory. I think that by looking at this story not only from the text, but from the images allows us to see the story more completely. It’s like reading two stories at once. There’s Vladik’s story of the holocaust and then there’s the story of Artie and his father’s relationship.
The point you said about his dad preparing for the future is really interesting, i never really thought into that until now. To me it seemed like even though Artie and his dad did have problems in life,the story was bringing them closer in the book. Later on though it just seems like Artie is really only interested in getting the story. I thought that whenever Artie freaks out on his dad and calls him a murderer for destroying his mothers journals. I agree when you said he called him a murderer because its like erasing her memory, but i can understand why he would destroy her stuff
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between Artie and Vladik that you describe is so true. Vladik is very consumed by the past, but I think he is trying to make a valient effort to put it completely in the past throughout the novel. Although it sounds bad, I feel that Vladik resembles the stereotypical Jewish person who keeps everything and cherishes everything no matter how big or small it is. Although Anja committed suicide, Vladik could have possibly prevented it if he had paid more attention to Anja. This could be why Artie called Vladik a murderer.
ReplyDeleteYes I can see what you mean about preparing for the future. It seemed he always wanted to save things just in case it was going to be needed for a later you such as to trade. But I don't know if Artie really wanted to understand him better I think he just felt guilty he wasn't around and just wanted something to talk to him about because you can see the time Vladik needed help with the roof he didn't want to help at all. I think he was more interested in hearing about his mother and when he found out there were things meant for him that were never giving he was angry.
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