Maus I: My Father Bleeds History: Chapters 4–6

by Art Spiegelman
A celebrated classic of the graphic novel form, Maus explores a man's relationship with his Holocaust-survivor father and with history itself.

Here are links to our lists for the graphic novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6

Here is a link to our list for Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. chronological
    relating to or arranged according to the order of time
    If you don't keep your story chronological, I'll never get it straight...
  2. vacate
    leave behind empty; move out of
    Non-Jews will be moved into vacated premises.
  3. premises
    land and the buildings on it
    Non-Jews will be moved into vacated premises.
  4. proposition
    an offer for a private bargain
    Then a little more we spoke and he made to me a proposition...
  5. convalescent
    returning to health after illness or debility
    It doesn't look so bad!
    Like a convalescent home.
  6. deport
    expel from a country
    She was taken with everybody else who was going to be deported, to four apartment houses that were emptied to make a sort of prison...
  7. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    Look at all this stuff!...Old menus he picked up on cruises...a pile of stationery from the Pines Hotel...
  8. neurotic
    affected by worry due to a mental disturbance
    He loved showing off how handy he was...and proving that anything I did was all wrong. He made me completely neurotic about fixing stuff.
  9. obscure
    not famous or acclaimed
    It appeared in an obscure underground comic book. I never thought Vladek would see it.
  10. pang
    a sudden sharp feeling
    When I saw the crowd I had a pang of fear...I suspected the worst, but didn't let myself know!
  11. void
    the state of nonexistence
    "O nobly born...in your journey through the formless void, remember the unity of all living things..."
  12. hostility
    a state of deep-seated ill-will
    My father's friends offered me hostility mixed in with their condolences...
  13. condolence
    an expression of sympathy with another's grief
    My father's friends offered me hostility mixed in with their condolences...
  14. resentful
    full of or marked by indignant ill will
    ...I turned away resentful of the way she tightened the umbilical cord...
  15. objective
    undistorted by emotion or personal bias
    It was so personal!...But very accurate...objective.
  16. shrine
    a place of worship associated with something sacred
    You keep photos of her all around your desk—like a shrine.
  17. circulation
    the movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels
    ...Every day I walk, otherwise in my legs the circulation makes me a cramp...
  18. ghetto
    the restricted quarter of European cities where Jews lived
    A few months after we sent Richieu to Zawiercie, the Germans decided they would finish out that ghetto.
  19. bunker
    an underground shelter or fortification
    We had in Srodula to make for ourselves "bunkers," places to hide.
  20. liquidate
    get rid of by killing
    By the end of July the Nazis made to liquidate completely our ghetto—it was 10,000 Jews taken away in one week.
  21. stoop
    small porch or set of steps at the front entrance of a house
    Let's sit on that stoop.
  22. seizure
    a sudden attack characterized by spasms or convulsions
    And last year, he got on the street a seizure—like what I had just now...but he didn't have with him his pills.
  23. estate
    everything you own; all of your assets and liabilities
    Talking about your estate just makes me uncomfortable.
  24. pragmatic
    concerned with practical matters
    He's always been—uh—pragmatic.
    Pragmatic? Cheap!! It causes him physical pain to part with even a nickel!
  25. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    In some ways he's just like the racist caricature of the miserly old Jew.
  26. miserly
    characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
    In some ways he's just like the racist caricature of the miserly old Jew.
  27. senile
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    I don't think anyone heard her...she's a little senile anyway.
  28. outskirts
    area relatively far from the center, as of a city or town
    She has a small farm on the outskirts of town...she might take you in, if you can pay.
  29. commotion
    a disorderly outburst or tumult
    It was a big commotion...Gestapo came on every side.
  30. parcel
    a wrapped package
    My family just sent me a food parcel. If I write back they'll send another, but we're only allowed to write German.
Created on Sat Jul 11 16:09:40 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Jul 10 10:59:21 EDT 2019)

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