Book II of Maus brings attention to the problem that children with aging parents must all face- who will take care of them? After Mala leaves Vladek, it is up to Art and Francoise to look after him. To their surprise, Vladek expects them to stay with him through the summer. Art makes it obvious several times in book II that he will not take his father in or stay with him indefinitely.
I believe that Art is unwilling to look after his father because of their tense relationship. If Vladek lives with Art, he will surely drive Art crazy. On the other hand, Art demonstrates his guilt towards abandoning his sick father in his conversations with his wife, Francoise. He realizes that he has an obligation to take care of his father, but has much anxiety about it.
In our society it is very unheard of for adult children to live with their parents. I think the reason for this is similar to Art’s reason for not wanting to take care of his father. Inevitably, there are going to be differing opinions and ways of doing things that will come up in a multi-generational family.
This thought came to me when I got new neighbors a few years ago. The first generation was from Bangladesh, the second generation was from New York, and the third generation was born in Wisconsin. I often wondered how it would work for grandchildren to live with their parents and their grandparents together. I still have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, we as Americans value our independence on a very personal level. Living with more authority figures would impede this feeling of independence. However, a little more family support and involvement would certainly benefit a person. Not to mention, the house would be run more efficiently with more people living there.
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