Bruno And Shmuel: Holocaust Analysis

In the beginning, Bruno was a young boy who came from a Nazi household. Even though he didn’t quite understand everything at the time, he had dreamed of becoming a soldier just like his father. Shmuel was a young boy as well, who happened to be Jewish. Although the two came from rather different backgrounds, they both had a few things in common: They were born on the same day, they were very lonely, and they were forced to leave behind everything they had ever known. As they had gotten to know each other, they learned that they weren’t so different after all. Bruno had started to realize that he had more in common with Shmuel than he ever did with his old friends back in Berlin. Eventually, the fence between them had started to disappear as the two came together, despite any differences they ever

The second struggle in Bruno 's and Shmuel’s friendship is their need to overcome their differences in the family background. One day, Bruno decided to talk about how they came to be in Auschwitz. When Shmuel starts talking about how he got here.He said that, “The train was horrible," said Shmuel. There were too many of us in the carriages for one thing. And there was no air to breathe.” “That 's because you all crowded onto one train,”said Bruno.... “When we came here, there was another one on the other side of the platform, but no one seemed to see it. That was the one we got.” (129-130). When Bruno talks about

It is portrayed most commonly within Bruno and Shmuel's friendship. Towards the end of the book Bruno begins to realise that the fence is separating them both for a reason, however this doesn't stop them from being friends. This shows that they would go through anything, including suffering, to be friends. The following quote shows how strong their friendship is at the end of the book, "Despite the mayhem that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go." (Page 213). Another display of friendship amidst suffering is demonstrated by Bruno's parents. At the beginning of the book their relationship is loving and healthy. Towards the end of the book, Bruno's mother discovers how the soldiers are treating the Jews. She becomes appalled and disliking of her husband, as he supports it and is not doing anything to stop it. Bruno's parents' relationship begins to fall apart and his mother eventually decides to move back to Berlin. This is a negative example of friendship amidst suffering as the relationship goes downhill. This shows how easy it is for suffering to build or tear apart a

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas shows how the friendship between two boys helped them deal with the issue they were going through. In the article, Bruno compares Shmuel’s hand to his and notices that Shmeul was starving to death. And as it states in the article, “ Bruno… was about to offer some more food ..” This shows us that Bruno felt sympathy for Shmeul and wanted to help him in any way possible, in this case giving him some food. Even though Shmeul was struggling to survive in the concentration camp he could count on his friend Bruno to try and help him. Bruno’s friendship was really important to Shmeul since it brought happiness to him in a time when his life was very sad.

The author is able to build a mood throughout the story by using the narrative technique of tone. It changes from the beginning to the end of the story. In the beginning of the story, Bruno is sad and angry that he is leaving behind his three best friends. He is arguing with his mom about it. “Say goodbye to Karl and Daniel and Martin? He continued, his voice coming dangerously close to shouting.” (pg. 7) This demonstrates how mad and angry Bruno is about moving. By the tone that Bruno is using when talking to his mother, it shows that he doesn’t want to leave them behind. This builds a mood for the story and makes the reader feel sorry for Bruno. In the middle of the story, after Bruno and Shmuel have become great friends, Bruno finds Shmuel inside his house polishing the glasses. Shmuel

Bruno is walking around his land and sees Shmuel; talks to Shmuel and gets asked to help find

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

As they move into their new house, that has wire fence surrounding their property, Bruno has a feeling that something is up and feels unsafe. He looks out his room window and sees many kids and adults all wearing the same striped outfit on the other side of the fence. Without knowing his family moves into a residence near the concentration camp, Auschwitz.

Bruno and his family move to a different house near Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Bruno mishears it and calls it "out with". Bruno was very upset about moving and wanted to go home. When he went into his room he could see a what he thought was a farm out of the window. His mother told him that he couldn't explore out the back garden but one day he didn't listen and went round there.

The next day where its raining and extremely muddy Bruno went to meetup with Shmuel at the fence to go on the search for Shmuel’s father . Finally Bruno was on the opposite side of the fence , as he was sneaking around trying to blend in with other people he never saw nothing like that seeing everyone looking miserable and skinny.

A major concern of World War Two which remains relevant to wars today is man’s inhumanity to man. Religious persecution is still common at present (Serbia, Northern Ireland etc) and it is magnified in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas through the naive observations of Bruno. His father’s understated comment “those people... well they’re not people at all, Bruno” (pg 53) ironically explores the horrifying detachment for those who he is mass murdering. It is the father’s emotionless statement and Bruno’s innocent lack of reaction as well as the horrifying truth of the murder of 2.5 million Jews which creates a contemporary concern. In addition the way this comment is written creates enormous reader involvement as they see

While living at the house, father announces to the family that the Fury and his partner will be coming over to have dinner with them. The family dresses in their best wardrobes and gets ready. When the Fury and his partner arrive, the kids must be very nice and use their manners. The kids introduce themselves to the Fury then head upstairs while the adults eat dinner. One day, Bruno decides he is going to go check out the “farm”. This is when he meets Shmuel. Shmuel lives inside the concentration camp because he is Jewish. Bruno asks numerous questions on why he is there, and how he got there. Shmuel explains all of it to him. Bruno and Shmuel start meeting at the fence just about everyday, and Bruno gives him some food because he notices how skinny Shmuel is. While planning for father’s birthday, Bruno allows mother and Lieutenant Kotler to have a private discussion. Bruno notices Shmuel is in the kitchen, and he is very surprised. Shmuel was assigned to polish glasses for the party. Later, mother gets fed up with the way life is at the “out-with” which is actually pronounced Auschwitz which was a concentration camp in Poland. By now, Bruno knows what the enclosure is because his sister told

When they arrive Bruno finds that the house is very small and disconnected from the outside world. He see’s that there is nasty smelling smoke barreling through the air, he doesn’t know what it is, yet. As Bruno surveys his new home he comes to his room where he peers out of the window and sees a fence surrounding a ton of children and adults all wearing the same clothing. He confronts his sister Gretel and tells her that they all look lonely and unfriendly. But they weren’t the only people looking unfriendly. Bruno immediately becomes enemies with one of the young soldiers that works for his father. But his sister is starting to develop a crush for the young man. For weeks the smoke continues to fill the air.

Shmuel, went from being lonely and sad, to be more cheerful after meeting Bruno. Bruno gave him support, food and friendship things that he didn’t have inside the camp. One day, they planned to go and find Shmuel’s dad inside the camp and marched together with other people not knowing that they were marching to their death.

‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ is about two little boys who become the most unlikely of friends during the Holocaust. Shmuel, a young Jewish boy, lives in a concentration camp holding Jewish people from different areas on one side of the fence. Bruno, a young German boy, lives in a two-storey house on the other side of the fence with his family. The fence is a figurative and literal line of division. It symbolises the differences between the two boys and the loss of freedom and innocence both from the German and Jewish people due to Hilter’s regime surrounding the Holocaust, a time in history where around six million Jewish people were killed because they were blamed for Germany’s demise during the First World War.