How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Page Number). Page numbers refer to The Complete Maus.
Quote #1
“Friends? Your friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week…Then you could see what it is, friends! …” (I.vi)
The fact that Vladek is saying this to an eleven-year-old who tripped on his skates says something about the gap in their life experiences.
Quote #2
“At that time it wasn’t anymore families. It was everybody to take care for himself!” (I.5.116)
The Nazis’ persecution of the Jews created impossible situations where people had to throw their morals aside just to survive.
Quote #3
“Always Haskel was such a guy: a Kombinator.” “A what?” “A guy what makes Kombinacya, a schemer…a crook.” (I.5.118)
Haskel is one example of a Jewish character who isn’t just an innocent victim. Haskel only aids others when it enriches himself in some way, and he connives and schemes his way into the Germans’ favor.