1. The amazing adventures of kavalier & clay
Framing Freedom in the Landscapes of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

2. The geographical landscape of prague
The novel’s opening words introduce the theme of “escapism” that permeates the story from beginning to end ... Josef Kavalier is obsessed with escapism as a boy in Prague, having learned many of its secrets from his mentor Kornblum, and putting it into practice in his most successful (real- life) escape act: smuggling himself out of Nazi- occupied Prague in the false bottom of a coffin containing the Golem of Prague. (Levine 529)

3. The geographical landscape of new york city
Chabon’s Kavalier & Clay ... is about escape; the central comic-book character that Josef Kavalier and Sam Clay invent is “the Escapist,” a superhero who possesses Houdini-like powers to pick locks and free himself from traps. The character is inspired by Kavalier’s escape from Nazi-occupied Prague, and the money that he earns is intended to help his family emigrate from that country. (Punday 298)

4. The cultural landscape of the war
The Second World War affected the entire world and still has consequences to this day; it created a cultural landscape on a scale that hasn’t been seen since. The landscape of the war would affect the entirety of Josef’s life, from his co-creation of The Escapist, to his continued efforts to free his family, to his eventual enlistment in the army.

5. The cultural landscape of the comic-book golden age
Kavalier & Clay can be read on many levels: it is a kunstlerroman and a Jewish-American immigrant novel that contrasts the naïveté and optimism of America with the ominous events in Europe. Furthermore, Chabon’s novel explores the role of comics as a serious contribution to American culture and as a means of escaping the grim reality of the Holocaust. (Berger 82)

6. conclusion
The geographical and cultural landscapes that exist in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay are used by Chabon to frame his story. They tell the two different geographical stories of Prague and New York City, with Josef’s escape from one to the other being a life- changing experience. The cultural landscapes of the war and the comic-book golden era are used to show the state of the world during that time period and the affect that they had on culture as a whole. All of these together are used by Chabon to showcase his central theme of escape and the resulting events in Josef Kavalier’s life.

7. Discussion question
Which cultural landscape has the greatest effect on Josef Kavalier’s life and why, the landscape of the war or the landscape of the comic-book golden age?

8. Works cited
Berger, Alan L. "Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: the return of the golem." Studies in American Jewish Literature 29 (2010):
Levine, Daniel B. "Josef Kavalier's Odyssey: Homeric Echoes in Michael Chabon's the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay." International Journal of the Classical Tradition, vol. 17, no. 4, Dec. 2010, pp
Punday, Daniel. "Kavalier & Clay, the Comic-Book Novel, and Authorship in a Corporate World." Critique, vol. 49, no. 3, Spring2008, pp