The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Essay Questions

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

Rising Action|Bruno saw men outside wearing striped pajamas and he only sees boys and men no women at all.|

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

When Gretel found out that Bruno had a friend, she immediately found something that she can make fun of him with, so “Gretel opened her mouth and stared at him before breaking into a laugh. ‘An imaginary friend!’ she cried. ‘Aren’t you a little old for an imaginary friend?’” (Boyne 155) Embarrassing Bruno with everything like his age, his habits, and what he does makes it hard for Bruno to talk with Gretel like a person he can trust or share his feelings with. There are rules that he has to obey made by Gretel to keep him out of her life, which includes not barging into her room and giving her quiet as well as feeding her curiosity. After being rude to Bruno throughout his whole life and having Bruno sneak into the camp without regret, “Gretel returned to Berlin with Mother and spent a lot of time alone in her room crying, not because she had thrown her dolls away and not because she left all her maps behind at Out-With, but because she missed Bruno so much” (Boyne 215). At first, Gretel would not have lived a day without bothering her brother in some way, though when the end of Bruno’s life came, she began to care and worry a lot. With so much hate towards her brother, Gretel reminded him that she was the supreme leader proving to him that she is a “Hopeless Case” and how much she disliked him because he was younger. Although they are siblings and siblings battle all the time, Gretel learned that she should cherish the existence of her family members especially her brother because she might lose them at some

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 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

Throughout the book Bruno's idea of his friendship with his sister changed, the protagonist also recreated his friendship with the “The Hopeless Case” - pg 21. In the beginning of the novel he is cruel and optimistic about his sister's life worthiness. This is portrayed on page 21 -

John Boyne has created a sophisticated and meaningful novel in The Boy in the Striped

Bruno did not understand what happened daily in the camp and was jealous that Shmuel was surrounded by other children. Bruno said “It's so unfair, I don't see why I have to be stuck over here on this side of the fence where there's no one to talk to and no one to play with and you get to have dozens of friends are probably playing for hours every day, I'll have to

Bruno learns lots of important things when he first move to Out-With, a very big one was Change. Change is to become or make different, in this case change is about Bruno and his family altering their life and moving to a smaller house and fixing their customs with the circumstances they were under. In the book change does some good and bad to the family, change helped Gretel and Bruno with their relationship, it also gave Bruno a new friend called Shmuel. It’s bad because Bruno learns the hard truth of concentration camps, his mother kind of grew depressed and would drink medicinal sherries. “It’s that we have to make the best out of a bad situation.’” (Boyne, 14) This is what mother told Bruno after arriving at Out-With. She explained to

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is a novel that explores how dreadful and evil the Holocaust was through the eyes of an innocent child. Boyne understands that for the readers to truly understand the horror of Holocaust, it has to be told through the eyes of someone who has lived through it. The protagonist, Bruno, is ignorant of what horrifying events are going on around him at the time, but becomes friends with a boy on the other side of the fence of a concentration camp called “Out-With” which is based on the real life Auschwitz. With a strong friendship, lack of knowledge, and irony, childlike innocence is revealed throughout the story, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.

Because she too is alone at Auschwitz she replaces her friends and companions with dolls, therefore leaving Bruno with no one but himself and in need in company. “I’m going back to my room to arrange my dolls” (pg 38). It is his family’s detachment that leads him to create new bonds with Shmuel, a Jew from the other side of the fence, which in turn leads to a horrific ending. This ending captures the reader because of the intensity and power in how it is written. If John Boyne had narrated the story in any other way, the effect would not have been quite so horrific and potent. This along with the main concern of the book captures the reader’s attention, encouraging them to read on.

A major change for Bruno was when they moved from Berlin to Auschwitz. Bruno was outgoing, adventurous and had many friends. After they moved, he became lonely, sad and a little resentful to his parents. He and Gretel were home schooled and he wasn’t allow to go outside anymore. He had no idea of what was going on in the concentration camp or his surrounding and didn’t understand why he couldn’t play with the kids he saw in the camp. After he met Shmuel things started to feel a little more normal for him but unaware that his life will end very soon.

Bruno, initially, has ignorance about everything going on in his life. For example, his dissatisfaction with leaving Berlin is demonstrated in many parts of the story. He is shown to the reader as being innocent, immature, and unable to give things a chance. On many occasions, Bruno complains about moving to “Out-With” (Auschwitz). He continually complains before even giving himself a chance to experience it. He was whining and being stubborn. To illustrate, in the novel, the author says, “Nothing, thought Bruno, not even the insects, would ever choose to stay at Out-With.

There have been a lot movies based in World War II.  The one that stands out the most is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  Made in 2008, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is a Holocaust movie filmed from the frame of reference of an eight-year-old boy.  The director-writer, Mark Herman took the story of two boys, written by John Boyne, and developed a masterpiece (The Boy in).  With the use of these two boys, Mark Herman takes the divide of cultural bias and economic injustices and links them together.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is an accomplished film made with incredible character development, heart-warming acting, powerful viewpoint, and a meaningful message.