Don't Be Traumatized, Kookie!

What is trauma? Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that can cause a person to have deep injuries either mentally or physically. One of the most traumatizing events in world's history is of The Holocaust. Artie constantly brings up his unending questions and interests about The Holocaust that his father has been through. How did he survive in the end? Was it just luck or pure acts of intelligence? Trauma has a big impact on people's lives. A person who undergoes a very traumatizing event may turn into a totally different person. After the horrors of The Holocaust, Vladek has certain systems of keeping his sanity in place. From counting pills to being obsessively neat and organized, Vladek constantly tries to keep his mind busy and constantly has to be doing something. "'I cannot forget it...ever since Hitler I don't like to throw out even a crumb'"(Spiegelman 78). His memories of The Holocaust will haunt him forever and he will never be literally "free". Every moment in life will be revolved around the details of the past. This is why people who survive such traumatizing events are simply not the same as before and are very sensitive to their surroundings. Even while living in the present, for Vladek, the methods of having to eat so little and survive during The Holocaust still impacts him. Chapter 4 in Maus II, is titled "Saved". Even after the Americans came forth and helped stop the Nazis rule, the flag of freedom portrayed in the book is only a background image. The recurring images, flashbacks, and memories will always be a burden that the survivors will have to carry around for the rest of their lives. Trauma leaves a person in shattered pieces. Trauma holds the human in place and simply never lets the person escape the vivid memories of the horrendous situations.