David Ayer 's Film Fury And John Boyne 's Novel ' The Boy Of The Striped Pyjamas '

Throughout history, people all over the world have discovered the importance of freedom, the difference is how each person reacts to it. In The Boy Who Dared, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Helmuth, the protagonist, lives in the dark, tragic time of WWII, under HItler’s rule. Everyday, in Germany, a freedom is taken away, one by one. Helmuth is one of the few, who dares to stand up against the Nazis to fight back for his freedom. In this novel, the author uses techniques such as symbolism, flashbacks, and descriptive language to emphasize the importance of freedom.

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 topic of war is hard to imagine from the perspective of one who hasn't experienced it. Literature makes it accessible for the reader to explore the themes of war. Owen and Remarque both dipcik what war was like for one who has never gone through it. Men in both All Quiet on the Western Front and “Dulce Et Decorum” experience betrayal of youth, horrors of war and feelings of camaraderie.

“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,

Literature encapsulates the human experience, reflecting facets of our culture, traditions, and beliefs. Literature functions as a tool to develop and explore empathetic links with other individuals and can provide insight into experiences removed from our own reality. Peter Fischl’s poem ‘Little Polish Boy’ is one such text in which we can attain a unique understanding of the horrors catalysed by war. An expression of Fischl’s own Holocaust experience, this poem is set in WWII, and addressed as a letter to an innocent child of the war from a photograph Fischl found years after the war ended. We can also learn of the loss and grief children face in times of war through the picture book ‘a Soldier, a Dog and a Boy’ by Libby Hathorn. The story follows a young boy orphaned by the Battle of Somme and he’s only left to survive with his dog before an Australian soldier comes to his rescue. These texts allow us to reach a better understanding of the different effects conflict has on children.

Even though the soldiers join the war as naive youths, the war rapidly changes them and they develop into young men. Surrounded by death, the boys are bound to foresee the fragility of their own lives and are stripped of the carelessness and brazenness of youth. The dreadful horrors around the boys bound them to consider a world that does not accommodate to their childish and simplistic view. They want to only see a separation between what is right and what is wrong, they instead find moral doubt. Where they had wanted to see order and meaning, they only found senselessness and disorder. Where they wanted to find heroism, they only found the selfish instinct of self-preservation. These realizations destroyed the innocence of the boys, maturing and thrusting them into their manhood.

Literature is the foundation of our beliefs, cultures and traditions. It is why as human beings we thrive in the world, learning from the past through stories and illustrations that create emotion, desire and inspiration. It was literature that started Adolf Hitler’s reign, through the simplicity of words. When World War 2 began, literature was a basis of hope, it would encompass emotion and for many their last mark on the world. Little Polish Boy, (1969), written by Peter Fischl, a survivor of the Holocaust, explores the war through a child’s perception. The poem highlights the naïve nature of children, witnessing an act of inhumane proportions, their voices suddenly neglected and powerless. In comparison, the Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, a novel written by John Boyne in 2006 demonstrates children’s willingness to defy an ingrained war culture due to the naivety of their actions and understanding.

Book Thief Author’s Craft Essay by Sydney Paunan World War II was one of the darkest periods of time in human history. This is a fact widely known and accepted by most people, and this era of history is studied very often in schools so the horrors of the past may be taught and not repeated. But how did this two-front war affect young German children? They were growing up in a wildly violent time whilst being told that the horrible crimes committed by their country were justified, though this view of the war is often overlooked. Though The Book Thief does not tell a true story, it is very possible that the events in the story were the reality for many young children growing up in Nazi Germany.

War is a serious topic that has been around for as long as anyone can remember. Heller’s novel, is a comedy about soldiers during WWII. Yet, when observed closely, these “comic” scenes are actually quite tragic just as most things related to war are.

World War II is an important key point in history that addresses to young adolescents. The novel, T4 is based on a true story, in which the author, Ann Clare LeZotte is portraying a novel that is based on the theme of survival. It appears to be that the author’s argument in writing this novel is to simply maintain awareness of the past. Generally speaking, a story about survival is a difficult genre for young readers, “The majority of war stories for children are about World War II and the Holocaust.” (Huck 482) The reason war stories are mainly about World War II and the Holocaust is because it was the most recent, largest, and horrifying war during the twentieth century in Europe. Our textbook also states that these historical novels help children experience the past. Meaning, that it is important for a child to learn about the past including all the wars, conflicts, sufferings, and great happiness that had occurred so they can apply that to the present and to the future.

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 Boy in Striped Pyjamas One of the main ideas in the film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas directed by Mark Herman is that friendship breaks all barriers, no matter the circumstances. This is conveyed through the characters Bruno, a naive Christian boy who loves exploring, and whose father is a head officer in Hitler’s army. And his unexpected friend Shmuel, a Jewish boy who lives in a concentration camp on the opposite side of the forest that Bruno and his family live at. This is a very unusual friendship , but because of the two boy’s naive and kind hearts, they physically and emotionally break every barrier in their way that stops them from being best friends. In this Film it begins with Bruno and his family living securely in Berlin,

As long as there has been war, those involved have managed to get their story out. This can be a method of coping with choices made or a way to deal with atrocities that have been witnessed. It can also be a means of telling the story of war for those that may have a keen interest in it. Regardless of the reason, a few themes have been a reoccurrence throughout. In ‘A Long Way Gone,’ ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ and ‘Novel without a Name,’ three narrators take the readers through their memories of war and destruction ending in survival and revelation. The common revelation of these stories is one of regret. Each of these books begins with the main character as an innocent, patriotic soldier or civilian and ends in either the loss of innocence and regret of choices only to be compensated with as a dire warning to those that may read it. These books are in fact antiwar stories meant not to detest patriotism or pride for one’s country or way of life, but to detest the conditions that lead to one being so simpleminded to kill another for it. The firebombing of Dresden, the mass execution of innocent civilians in Sierra Leone and a generation of people lost to the gruesome and outlandish way of life of communism and Marxism should be enough to convince anyone. These stories serve as another perspective for the not-so-easily convinced.

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