The challenges Spiegelman faces in writing the second volume of the series are at the center of this section. In a meta, postmodern approach, the making of the book itself becomes the book’s subject. Françoise becomes a sounding board for Spiegelman to voice his doubts and his concerns: He is keenly aware that writing about the Holocaust in general is problematic. For decades, doing so in any form was considered taboo because the horrors that took place there were regarded as too terrible to discuss. This taboo was underscored, in part, by a belief that not drawing attention to survivors’ experiences would help them to forget the pain and effectively “move on.” In writing the book, then, Spiegelman knowingly challenges this taboo. His acknowledgment of his intentions to portray Vladek accurately and honestly is a way of putting a kind of disclaimer on his work—an assertion that he is aware that any approach he might take to writing about the Holocaust will be flawed and possibly even offensive.

This chapter also immediately introduces the tension-fraught relationship between Art and his father. Vladek’s failing health and advanced age mean that he cannot adequately care for himself and his home, and he frequently demands that Art come to his rescue. Art does so out of a sense of obligation and guilt, though spending time with his father makes Art irate and impatient. Vladek’s constant frugality maddens Art. He tries to reconcile this with the resourcefulness that Vladek developed during the Holocaust but still finds many of Vladek’s behaviors—such as rationing inexpensive wooden matches—illogical. Likewise, when Art speaks of living with the ghost of his late brother, Richieu, he reveals that this problematic relationship with Vladek has existed since Art was young. Richieu, having died in the Holocaust, is revered by Vladek and Anja. As an adolescent, Art feels jealous of the love his parents feel for Richieu, which is only exacerbated by their disapproval of Art’s career choice of a cartoonist. Though his brother is not living, Art still feels that he will never make his parents proud of him the way that they would have been proud of Richieu’s inevitable success. Art fluctuates between being angry at Richieu and feeling guilt for being the son who is alive. Indeed, that his father has undergone horrific experiences nags at Art and contributes to his guilty feelings when he complains about Vladek. The Generational Impact of Trauma and Survivor’s Guilt is a key theme, and recording his father’s experiences becomes a way for Art to work through his own complicated feelings.

Of great importance in this section is Vladek’s arrival in Auschwitz. Delaying the “start” of Vladek’s story until Volume II is a way to underscore that Vladek is always “living” the Holocaust, and thus, a timeline becomes messy, imperfect, and irrelevant. The theme of Preservation of History and the Subjectivity of Historical Records is relevant to Vladek’s lack of knowledge of many details surrounding his experience. Spiegelman uses the graphics in this chapter to both underscore this problem and to attempt to reconcile it. For instance, when Vladek is uncertain as to what happened to his friend Mandelbaum, Spiegelman draws the potential scenario that Vladek proposes. Depicting this hypothetical scene makes it “real” and suggests that it is true—in this way, Spiegelman helps Vladek invent his own history.

Indeed, the visuals do a great deal of work throughout the novel. The anger and hatred of the Nazis are shown in the cats’ expressions; the pessimism Vladek feels upon arrival is depicted in scenes in which he studies his prison tattoo, and the relief and sheer joy Vladek feels when presented with a bounty of food is evident, all via the particular way the visuals are drawn. Likewise, Spiegelman reminds readers of the way that the past continues to plague Vladek by echoing scenes from the past when he draws Vladek in the present. For instance, the scene in which Vladek forces Art to sneak into the Pines Hotel depicts Vladek pulling Art by the arm and running to evade being seen by the hotel guards. This echoes previous scenes in the chapter in which Vladek was forced to run to hide from SS guards. This layering reinforces the ongoing trauma that Vladek is living.

Everyday scenes of car rides, conversations in Vladek’s house, and neighborhood walks are contrasted with the overall horror of the Holocaust, depicted in scenes of nude prisoners, crowded barracks, and prisoner despair. The image of Mandelbaum in his ill-fitting, baggy striped uniform wearing only one oversized shoe and holding another that is too small is emblematic of the Holocaust today. However, when the book was published, there were far fewer media representations of the Holocaust, so Spiegelman was breaking ground, not only in telling the story of his father but also in how he told it.