plot

 The book opens in 1978 and Art Spiegleman arrives in Rego  Park, NY, to dine with his father, Vladek, a Holocaust survivor. Art's mother, Anja, killed herself in 1968 after suffering through depression after giving birth to Artie's brother Richeau, who died during the Holocaust. Vladek is now remarried to a woman named Mala, herself a survivor of the Holocaust. The couple does not get along and there does not appear to be much love in their relationship. Vladek, constantly fearful that Mala will steal his money, is intensely stingy and treats his wife like a maid. After dinner, Art tells his father that he wants to draw a book about his experiences in the Holocaust, and Vladek starts to tell his son the story of how he met Anja. Vladek and Anja soon get married and lives a very wealthy life. Vladek is then drafted to fight in World War II and is taken prisoner. He serve his time and returns home to Anja and Richeau. Soon they go into hiding in order to save themselves. Richeau is sent to his aunt's house where he laters dies, being poisoned by his aunt. At the end of the war, Anja and Vladek reunite and move to America, where Anja eventually commits suicide. Vladek dies after calling Artie his dead brother, Richeau. He is burried next to Anja.