A Paradox Of Innocence : An Essay

John Boyne's book "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" invites the readers to embark on an imaginative journey at two levels. At the first level, Boyne himself embarks upon an imaginative journey that explores a possible scenario in relation to Auschwitz. Bruno is a 9 year old boy growing up in a loving, but typically authoritarian German family in the 1930?s. His father is a

John Boyne’s book “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is set in the area bordering Nazi Germany and Poland in the 1940s. The story concern a young German boy named Bruno, his family and the unlikely friendship he has between another boy named Schmuel, imprisoned in Auschwitz.

“The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas” by John Boyne gives an insight to the holocaust and the rule of Nazi Germany in WW2, Boyne’s novel demonstrates Friendship through protagonist Bruno. Boyne writes about the an inhumane period, even if his book is a fable it still is based on the hardship that the jewish people suffered during this dark time. Throughout the Novel Bruno’s perspective on Friendship changes, he realises that you shouldn’t judge a friend by there appearance. The characters show intricate acts of friendship for life, friendship between young and old. Mateship between four “best friends for life” (karl, Daniel, Martin and Bruno) and the protagonist, Bruno, “crossing the fence” by entering an concentration and extermination camp for his jewish friend, Shmuel. The book is set on the German Polish border in about the year 1942 in the middle of Nazi Germany.

John Boyne’s historical fable, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, is an optimistic narration of World War Two set in the “Out-With” concentration camp. In the background of the war, the story details the life of male protagonist Bruno, who befriends the unlikeliest of strangers in his attempt to adjust to life at Out-With. In Boyne’s portrayal of this dictatorship, the characters' go through life controlled by the notion of fear, only escaping its grasp through the most dramatic of circumstances. The didactic text paints a picture of how “we don’t have a choice” when we are being controlled by our fear (p.8). Thus,

In A Separate Peace, John Knowles carries the theme of the inevitable loss of innocence throughout the entire novel. Several characters in the novel sustain both positive and negative changes, resulting from the change of the peaceful summer sessions at Devon to the reality of World War II. While some characters embrace their development through their loss of innocence, others are at war with themselves trying to preserve that innocence.

The Holocaust was a time of great suffering and inhumanity. The novel Night, which took place during this time, was written by Elie Wiesel and talks about his teen self-experiencing the concentration camps of Auschwitz. This is related to the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas which is the story of a young German boy named Bruno who befriends a Jewish boy in a concentration camp. The many similarities and differences between the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and the novel Night include their many themes of “inhumanity” and “guilt and inaction”, and the two also share and differ in the loss of innocence of the characters and how they develop in each medium.

While Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy subjugated to the violence of the Holocaust in Night, embarks on his atrocious journey in struggling to survive the brutality perpetrated on him, he loses his innocence in the traumatic circumstances. Wiesel’s main aspiration of writing about his development from childhood to adulthood is to showcase how cruelty within society can darken innocents’ souls. As Elie grows throughout the story, he starts to understand that he has changed from a pure, little child to a young man filled with distress and thoughts of danger. He reflects over what kind of individual he has evolved into because of the all the killings and torture he has witnessed: “I too had become a different

Innocence: “the quality or state of being innocent; freedom from sin or moral wrong. Freedom from legal or specific wrong; guiltlessness.” What would you do if you no longer lived your innocent life but you had done nothing wrong. Ripped out of your daily life and convicted of a crime you never committed. Do you think you could save your life from being behind bars forever?

Friendship is a basic human need, especially for nine year old boys living their childhood. For Bruno who is lonely, bored out of his mind and could not find friends his age to play with and Shmuel a Jewish boy entrapped in a brutal concentration camp, their friendship is one of the only things that can spark a little happiness and lighten up their spirit. The boys meet in the least possible place – the periphery of Auschwitz concentration camp, where one is imprisoned and the other is the son of the Nazi commandant in charge. Although they are meant to see each other as enemies as a Jew and Nazi, there is no hatred between Bruno and Shmuel. They simply see each other as another kid to talk to out of the loneliness of Auschwitz. As the book

John Boyne has created a sophisticated and meaningful novel “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” through his portrayal of prejudice and discrimination. Throughout the text, he exposes society's perception, attitude and behavior towards different racial groups and people during the Holocaust in WW2. Bruno’s curious nature, captures the attention of the reader, and provides a platform from which to explore the atrocities of war. Bruno’s innocence shields him from the monstrosities of prejudice and discrimination, depicted by the attitude and behaviour of the people around him. In particular, Bruno bears witness to prejudice and discrimination propagated by Hitler, The Commandant and Lt Kotler.

The Innocence Project was established in the wake of a landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Senate with help from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Schneider, 2013). This study found that there were numerous reasons why people are wrongfully convicted including, but not limited to eye witness identification, perjured testimony, improper forensic science techniques, and government misconduct (Roberts & Weathered, 2009) The original Innocence Project was founded twenty two (22) years ago as a part of the Cardoza School of Law of Yeshiva University in New York City, New York (Davis, 2012). The Innocence Projects primary goal is to exonerate those whom have been convicted of a crime when there is DNA evidence available to be tested or re-tested (Mitchell, 2011). DNA testing has been possible in five (5) percent to ten (10) percent of cases since 1992 (Risinger, 2007). On the other side, other members of the Innocence Project help to exonerate those have been convicted of a crime where there is no DNA evidence to test. A goal of the Innocence Project is to conduct research on the reasons for wrongful convictions, how to fix the criminal justice system, as well as advocate for those who have been wrongfully convicted (Steiker & Steiker, 2005). The members of this organization strive to teach the world about the dangers of wrongful convictions. To date, this non-profit legal organization, has freed three hundred eighteen (318)

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is a book that gave the word “love” many other meanings, such as impossible, meaningless and incomplete. There were many unbearable obstacles that Countess Ellen Olenska, one of the main characters, had to face because of love. She was treated badly by many people and always longed for love but never obtained it. With everyone cursing her, betraying her and hurting her, there was one person who was always there for her. Newland Archer wasn’t only sympathetic towards her; he also began to fall in love with her. The love she always wanted. He was the man who truly cared for her and always helped her make decisions. Out of all the selfish people in New York who

In the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, the historical setting of Nazi Germany is of key importance. Although the novel is fictional having it set during a time period of such significance, such as Germany under the Nazi regime, gives a sense of reality to the book. This is important as this connects readers to the plot line as they understand the setting. This setting is interesting as it was a terrible point of history, filled with hatred, fear and bigotry. In this essay, I will be discussing the main points of the historical setting and the reasons this fits well with the book and how this historical setting came about. This historical setting had key relevance and was essential for the book.

You are an eight-year-old boy forced to move with your family from your home in Berlin to the countryside because your father received a promotion as the head Nazi officer at a work camp. Without any friends, you sneak away during the day to explore the land behind your house and find what you understand to be a “farm.” It turns out to be a work camp where you meet another boy your age. You quickly become friends with the boy named Shmuel, who is forced to live in the work camp because he is Jewish. You do not understand the hatred towards the Jews during this time, and because of this, an unlikely friendship forms. Shmuel’s father disappears and you offer to come into the camp to help look for him. When searching in the barracks, things

They say that ignorance is bliss. That is somewhat true, as not understanding the atrocities in our world would surely make a happier person. However, innocence can also lead to calamity. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne, is a coming of age story about Bruno, the son of a Nazi Commandant under Adolf Hitler. Bruno was initially very ignorant of what was happening in the world and was very immature about moving from Berlin. As the days went by, he got used to his new home and his thoughts were maturing, as he started thinking with logic and rationale. Bruno finally understands that he has to be a good person to everyone regardless what others might think. His character has strongly developed. Despite Bruno being unaware of his situation and his father being a Nazi, he matures from being childish and unsatisfied for moving to finally finding purpose in life by being a good human being.