Family Ties
...did find Mordecai, who signed the father’s papers and sent him off to the “right” which was the good side, the side which had hope for survival. Despite his papers, the father did not go off to the right; he snuck off to the left. He was willing to risk his own life just to be with his daughter and her four children. Being with the family was more important to him than his own survival. “My daughter! How can she manage alone with four children to take care of? And what do you think? He sneaked onto the bad side. And those on the bad side, never came anymore home.” (Spiegelman 300) A father’s devotion to his daughter can also be seen in “The Ghost Writer”. “Daddy lived in the man’s barracks, but when I got sick, he manages somehow to get into the women’s camp at night and to come to my bed and hold my hand.” (Roth 310) Otto Frank showed extreme devotion and care for his daughter. He was at her side in time of need, despite his own personal safety. Hiding was one of the key tools that people used to escape the Nazis during the Holocaust. Jews either had self made hide-outs which they called bunkers, or they would go to a non-Jewish family in hope that they would provide them with shelter. Nazi selections only targeted a specific type of person, therefore, in the “Maus”; the family’s main concern was to hide the grandparents, because the old were a key target for elimination. Even this decision was not easy because, “…we have been together-a family-for seventy years. We don’t want to break apart now!” (Spiegelman 295) In spite of not wanting to part, they felt that this may be the only way to save them so, “…so, in the yard, we made a hiding place, a bunker.” (Spiegelman 295) While the grandparents were in the bunker, they made sure to supply them with food and whatever comfort they can. “We sneaked food to them, and when it was safe-we took them inside-a little.” In “The Ghost Writer”, hiding was also a key tool to survival. When the Nazi occupation began, the father had brought them into hiding. In this case, the family would not separate, and they all crammed into one tiny apartment where they were safely hid by a Dutch family. “The Franks lives safely for twenty-five months.” (Roth 309) In the beginning the living conditions were somewhat difficult, yet they all learned how to cope in the tiny apartment. The first year there it hadn’t been that bad; they had all been so busy sitting in, that she didn’t have time to feel desperate. In fact, so diligently had they all worked to transform the attic into a super practical home that her father had gotten everybody to agree to subdivide the space still further and take in another Jew. The family was willing to work together to make their lives as good as possible. The tight family support was a k...