Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Initial Situation
Vladek begins his story as a well-to-do young man in Poland.
Maus’s plot centers on Vladek’s story, as he relates it to Art. Vladek begins his story with a description of his affluent lifestyle before the onset of World War II. He has just married Anja, his father-in-law has helped him set up a factory, and Vladek and Anja have a young son, Richieu.
Conflict
Vladek’s fortunes change when the Germans occupy Poland.
As World War II begins, Vladek is sent to fight, and ends up a prisoner of war. When he is freed, he returns to a Poland that is now occupied by Germany, and thus subject to its laws. Conditions worsen as the Germans confiscate the Jews’ property, restrict their movements, move them into ghettoes, and deport Jews to the camps.
Complication
Vladek and his family attempt to hide from the Germans.
For a while, Vladek and Anja are able to hide from the Germans in the homes of various Poles. But when they attempt to escape into Hungary, they are betrayed to the Nazis by their handlers.
Climax
Vladek and his family are sent to Auschwitz.
At Auschwitz, Vladek and Anja experience the full horror and brutality of the concentration camps.
Suspense
Vladek tries desperately to survive in the concentration camps.
The ever-resourceful Vladek figures out a way to make life a tiny bit easier for himself and Anja in the camps by bartering his skilled labor and his language skills. As the war nears its end, Vladek and Anja are transferred to Dachau, where conditions are even worse than Auschwitz.
Denouement
The war ends, and Vladek and Anja are free.
With the end of the war, Vladek and Anja reunite in their hometown, Sosnowiec. They emigrate first to Sweden, and then to the United States.
Conclusion
Fast forward to the present, where Art records the last words of Vladek’s story.
In the last scene, we return to the present as Vladek finishes his story to Art.