The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Theme 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

Bruno is still innocent and ignorant but relies that it would be the best if he would lie about his new friend Shmuel just because the fact that Bruno found that found him first and that it was HIS friend. Bruno being a young boy doesn’t understand why the physical separation of the 2 boys and who it relates to his father’s job nor the war.

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

Finally, it was good that Bruno was naive about the Holocaust throughout the novel. Although Bruno became friends with Shmuel, which lead to a tragic ending. If Bruno wasn't naive about the holocaust he might not have even thought of going nearly as close to the

As commented by Bruno “….because my birthday is April the fifteenth too” implying that they share the same birthday. Both Bruno and Shmuel was forced to leave their hometowns to go to their new place in Auschwitz. Which Bruno described as “horrible place.” Both Bruno and Shmuel misses their old home as well as their friends. In the novel Shmuel was taught to how to speak German as it was revealed by Shmuel “Mama is a teacher in my school and she taught me German” in (chapter ten page sixty). Bruno can also speak German and was taught by Herr Litz. Likewise, through explicit use of Bruno really hates Auschwitz because it’s boring and not as fun as Berlin, same as Shmuel as he also hates Auschwitz since it’s frightening and dark. Due to their similarities, both of the characters was able to related to their situation and talk more about their life which help their friendship grew

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

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.

Topic: Compare how the theme of innocence is represented in The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

This is different than the movie, where Bruno was told earlier on by his sister and Shmuel that the people in the camps were Jews. Then he kept asking until he found out that they were “evil” and cannot be trusted. He then had to decide whether or not he should stay friends with Shmuel. Although he did not fully understand it in the book or the movie, he had more of an internal conflict in the movie, as he wasn’t sure if Shmuel could be trusted based on what his sister told him and what he learned from his history

He tells Bruno on one of their visits that he does not know where his father is and asks Bruno to help. He wants to help when he finds out that his dad is missing, and he also visits Shmuel almost every single day. They are doing everything they can to try and help one another even if it means breaking the rules. The book says, “Despite the chaos that followed,” meaning being put in the gas chambers, “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.” This proves the real friendship between Shmuel and

Bruno is not a prejudiced boy, he talks to Shmuel everyday and nothing about his religion bothers him, the “fury” is the real racist, he’s the cause of the fences. Towards the end of the book Bruno sneaks into the concentration camp with Shmuel, just so he can help Shmuel look for his father. I think this is the best example of how much Bruno liked Schmuel for who he is, and not his race. If it weren’t for his elders, the boys would be free of the camp.

Essay Question: “Books that engage directly with contemporary concerns and issues will always involve a reader”

Bruno and Shmuel shared similar trait, evidence was portrayed throughout the stories. As commented by Bruno “….because my birthday is April the fifteenth too” implies that both Bruno and Shmuel shares the same birthday. Bruno and Shmuel was forced to leave their hometowns, to go to Auschwitz. Similarity included, feeling lonely and longing for home. Throughout the dialogue, the conversation between Bruno and Shmuel was spoken in German. Shmuel was taught German from his mother, commented by Bruno “Mama is a teacher in my school and she taught me German,’. This is comparable as Bruno was also taught to speak German from his teacher. Their personality is similar in some way as both of them really hates Auschwitz. Due to their similarities, both

Firstly ,the friendship Bruno and Shmuel grew despite their social economic differences . To be more specific , first when Bruno met Shmuel along the fence , they recognized their wide difference economically between of them. In the quote ‘ I live in the house on this side of the fence ,’ (pg.108) Bruno explained who owned his house for their family. But Shmuel who was living in a nasty and tiny prison room of Out-With with other 11 Jews . There were lots of soldiers stationed at the Out-with and in Bruno’s house. Those properties were different, namely , the soldiers were stationed at Out-With for watching the Jews at the camp . Outside the fence which represented freedom to Shmuel who was controlled living in the Out-With . One example of this economic difference was when Bruno had played swing by himself. After Pavel saw Bruno was fallen on the ground , Pavel took some tools to clean Bruno’s knee , and then he put a bandage on it . Pavel told Bruno his previous job was a doctor even though Maria said to Brune: ‘ No , he’s not a doctor . He’s a waiter .’ ( pg.136) Pavel represented the Jew who were deprived of their freedoms by the