Comparing Wiesel, Maus, And Slaughterhouse-Five

According to Kurt Vonnegut, “...there would always be wars... they were as easy to stop as glaciers” (Vonnegut 3). And from these wars come the stories of those who struggled through them. Night by Elie Wiesel, Maus by Art Spiegelman, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut all show how the choices people make when they are in danger are generally selfish, attempting to save their own lives and rarely aiding anyone else. People are selfish by nature and will only look out for their own interests, although they are capable of caring for those around them, but will betray even those they love if they benefit from it.
When people find themselves in life-threatening situations, they will try their best to ensure their own safety, even at the expense
of the safety of others. Two examples of this behavior are when Vladek is hiding from the Gestapo and at the mercy of those around him; he has to rely on the kindness and generosity of anyone who sees him and his family, hoping that they don’t report them. When he was spotted emerging from an attic hideout, his family had to make the choice to kill the observer because of the risk that he was an informant, or let him be. In the end, they gave him a bit of food and let him leave, but he returned with the Gestapo. The informant was Jewish, but showed no loyalty, instead selling Vladek and his family out for whatever rewards and security he could get. Even those willing to aid the Jews were not entirely altruistic, as evidenced by the Polish woman who would not bring Vladek bread when he could not pay for it in full, even as he promised to pay her later. In Night, selfishness and the cruelty that it results in was evidenced by the moment on the train when someone throws a piece of bread into the car full of prisoners and they mercilessly fight for it. Elie tries to stay as far away from the frenzy as possible, recalling “Men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, rearing at and mauling each other” (Wiesel 101). They don’t care about the people that they’re hurting, only that if they hurt them there is a chance they will be rewarded with a single piece of bread. In tough circumstances, people will not hesitate to hurt each other if it will help themselves.
However, people continue to care for those that they have previous connections and loyalties to. Through concentration camps and whatever else was thrown at them, Elie and his father stuck together and helped each other, sharing food and making decisions together. Even though his father was old and would hold him back, Elie continued to provide him with bread and support, refusing to abandon him. Towards the end of his father’s life, Elie had thoughts of leaving him, but he stuck with him, even trading a ration of bread to be in the bed next to him on his deathbed. In Maus, when the Jews are all required to come to the stadium to register, Vladek’s father hears that his daughter and her four children are on the ‘bad side’ and in danger, so he climbs over the fence and away from safety to be with her. Mary O’Hare, one of the people that Slaughterhouse-Five is dedicated to, was storming around and generally being disruptive and unhelpful during Vonnegut’s meeting with her husband about his war novel because she did not want him to write a book that would idealize war, causing the ‘babies’ to go fight in it. She would have been perfectly content with Vonnegut’s novel not being published, his story not being told and his living not being made if it meant that her babies were safe from war. These people will do whatever it takes to keep their loved ones safe from harm.
In the end, however, people will betray even the people they are close to if it will mean their continued survival.
In Slaughterhouse-Five, the two scouts did not hesitate to ditch Roland Weary once it was clear that Billy Pilgrim would slow them down. As evidenced by Weary’s Three Musketeers mindset, their little group worked together as a team and were more than simply strangers. Even though the scouts were aware that Weary would probably not survive with his limited resources and the additional burden of Billy, but were entirely fine with that as long as they were safe. Additionally, there were multiple instances of sons betraying their fathers towards the end of their imprisonment in Night. Elie became resentful about having to support his father, continuing to share his food with him, but only bitterly. In the morning, Elie discovers that his father has died, and his only thought was “Free at last!” (112). Rabbi Eliahu’s son notices that he is falling behind in the forced march, but does not slow down with him. The most dramatic example is when a child kills his own father over a piece of bread on the train. The man pleads for his son to stop, saying that he has enough for both of them to share, but he is killed nonetheless. These are three examples of children betraying their own fathers in a desire to survive, fathers that they had protected and loved, until the desire for survival outweighed their connection and affection. To survive, people will turn on even those they are closest to if it will benefit
them. In conclusion, people are selfish and will think of themselves above everyone else, even turning on those they once loved and protected. Conflict and danger bring out the most selfish choices, and war is full of high stakes decisions. Of course, humanity doesn’t become exclusively heartless in times of war, there are simply more opportunities that harm others then. If everyone thought about others before themselves, we would have a peaceful world. But alas, the selfishness of humanity continues, vast and strong and cold as a glacier. And as selfishness continues, so shall war.