Maus, written by Art Spiegelman, and Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni have two very different depictions of the Holocaust and their main characters both have different strengths that allowed them and their families to stay afloat during the Holocaust. Vladek and Guido use their individual strengths to survive the prison camps and help their loved ones survive as well. Both Vladek and Guido have families to care for while living in the hostile environment of concentration camps. Guido's ability to be comical and think quickly keeps him and his son alive. Vladek's ingenuity and quick learning keep him and his wife alive. Vladek and Guido are not alone in the prison camps, their wives and children are also trapped. In 1939, an Italian Jew named Guido Orefice went to Italy to open a bookstore. There, he worked as a waiter in a hotel-restaurant owned by his uncle. Guido then meets a woman called Dora. Guido naturally falls in love with her, calling her "princess" and telling her, "You can't imagine how much I want to make love to you." But I will never tell anyone, especially not you. You'd have to torture me to say it. They eventually have a son, Giosue, and on his fifth birthday, they are captured and taken to a concentration camp. Vladek was living in Poland and trying to climb the ladder in the textile industry. Vladek's love life was not up to par. He was dating Lucia Greenberg, young and sexy, but very needy. In December 1935, he regularly visited his family in Sosnowiec. During the visit, his cousin introduces him to the rich and delicate Anja Zylberberg, who will be Art's future mother. She and Vlade... middle of paper ......dea and Yidl are able to protect him. Vladek learns that Anja is inside. He writes letters and then gives them to Mancie, another tinsmith, who smuggles them out and gives them to Anja, along with extra food. Vladek is sent to Birkenau, where he volunteers as a shoemaker. Vladek is able to get straight to work repairing soles and heels since he watched shoemakers when he was little. A gestapo arrives and orders Vladek to repair a boot for him, as he needs someone more competent. He gives a specialist a daily ration of bread and watches him prepare it. Vladek is rewarded with a gigantic sausage because of this. Maus and Life is Beautiful have similarities in their characters and their depictions of the Nazi death camps and the Holocaust in general, although a major flaw ends up being the disappearance of one of the characters. , it's Guido.