Vladek's story is shaped by the combination of the events to which he is a witness, a victim, or a participant. One of the events to which Vladek was barely an outside observer was the death of his son. Yet, despite his separation from the experience, this event had a great impact on Vladek. His relationship with Art is very different from the relationship that he would have had with Richieu. This is in part because they are different children, in part because the two would have shared different experiences of their father, and in part because of theconnection that art sensed between Vladek and Richieu because their relationship extended to before the war.

Vladek and Richieu did not get to spend much time together because of the situation that they were in prior to and during the war. Prior to the war, Vladek spent much of his time away from home on business, and once the war began, Vladek went to fight in the Army.

As soon it became obvious that the war was not going to end quickly or peacefully, Vladek and Anja sent Richieu to live with his aunt. This separation allows Vladek to romanticize his relationship with Richieu. The romanticization is perhaps more dramatic because of the timing of Richieu's death.

What is interesting to note is the correlation of event of the 1940's with the events of the 1860's described in Beloved. This connection is interresting to note not only because of the appearance in two separate bodies of literature, about two different, though in many ways related topics, but also because of the fact that both stories are based in fact. This places a new perspective on the actions that individuals will undergo to prevent the children about whom they care from experiencing the pain and suffering through which they were forced to go. (I have always heard my parents say that they wanted a better life for me than the one that they have led, but these two stories give new meaning to this concept.)

The women in these two situations were faced with two bad options, and no good ones. The option of allowing themselves and the children to enter/return to the life of oppression and hatred that the women had experienced prior was completely unacceptable. However, the other option was one of infanticide which holds little if any acceptability either. In two different situations, these women chose the same fate for themselves and their children. (A similar scene is begun in Pudd'nhead Wilson, though Roxy is able to find a solution that keeps her from killing both her baby and herself.) What was it about the gravity of these two situations that made the women, from different backgrounds, with different histories, but similar experiences of oppression and hatred commit these types of murder? This is an interesting question that can only be answered by individual that have been in situations like this one. I wanted to link part of this paragraph to the chapter in PW where Roxy makes this decision, but was unable to connect to that page.

Perhaps the cause which the two cases have in common is the absolute desperation that the two women felt. Understanding this type of situation is virtually impossible for anyone who has never experienced it. However, in my feeble attempt to comprehend the situations with which Sethe and Tosha were forced to deal, I have come to the conclusion that the desperation that they felt, to prevent the children from being tortured, to keep themselves from returning to the horrible situations from which they were temporarily granted reprieve, these women would do anything, including killing their own children. This type of desperation is almost as incomprehensible as the situations from which it arises. It is just these situations that are the subject of both Beloved and MAUS.