It is indisputable that the power of friendship can cross boundaries such as race, religion, and culture. In the novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, written by John Boyne, this is clearly shown in various aspects throughout the story. Bruno set aside all differences when he had befriended Shmuel, evidently surpassing all boundaries. The physical boundaries that separated Bruno and Shmuel were a mere setback as their friendship, bond and care for each other was strong enough to overcome this. This is clearly supported by the fact that Bruno said “I wouldn’t let you down.” Their race, religion, cultural differences and diverse realities were barriers in which they overcame through friendship. Bruno’s perspective and ignorant understandings were altered through the learnings acquired from the companionship he had with Shmuel. Bruno’s friendship and bond with Shmuel was everlasting and crossed the boundary of race. Although Bruno's and Shmuel’s friendship was denied, they retained it through even the most difficult circumstances. As the Germans were taking and killing the …show more content…
Although Bruno and Shmuel came from different cultures, they both accepted each other despite their different religious beliefs and practises. As Bruno came from a wealthy and powerful family, where his dad is a high ranking military officer, Shmuel is in a situation where he has negligible rights and is treated poorly. Bruno’s innocence and ignorance of Shmuel’s situation led him to not discriminating against Shmuel and being more accepting of the person he is. He is more compassionate and sympathetic since their friendship was formed and was tolerant and understanding when they had disagreements. “Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree, said Bruno, who didn't want to fight with his new friend.” This shows the undeniable fact that the power of friendship can persuade a person to be more
Bruno is an 8 year old boy, whose determination and courage is one of the numerous things that makes him one of the most dependable charters within the novel. Bruno is shown to be particularly vulnerable of his surroundings and what was going on throughout this time. His connection and willpower to be able to make a friend in the most unlikely area and conditions, he sees an opportunity and turns it into an improbable and prohibited friendship that has many twists and turns and uncontrolled concecuences. After meeting Shmuel a young 8 year old boy, who appears to have a matching birthday to Bruno, they form a tight and loving friendship. Shmuel is undernourished and appears to be extremely pale, bringing the readers to understand the vulnerability of the
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
Bruno is walking around his land and sees Shmuel; talks to Shmuel and gets asked to help find
The soldier treated the Jews, including Shmuel who was only 9 years old, very harsh. This builds a frightening mood for the reader. When Bruno and Shmuel are in the concentration camp they are starting to realize that their plan was a terrible idea. They are becoming nervous and don’t know what to do. They are sensing danger. “Don’t worry Shmuel. No matter what happens you will always be my best friend. Then he had the urge to squeeze his tiny hand. They hugged each other and started to cry” (page 212). This is important because it builds a mood that makes the reader want to cry. When they are holding hands in the gas chamber, Bruno and Shmuel were talking in a tone that made the reader understand exactly how they were feeling. They were in a terrifying moment which made the reader nervous for them. The writer made it very suspenseful. In The Boy And The Striped Pajamas, John Boyne was able to use narrative techniques to make the story more interesting add to the add emotion behind it. One way he did that was by using the tone of the build to build a mood for the
In this book there are two boys, Shmuel and Bruno. They are very good friends. Bruno helps Shmuel a lot through the concentration camps. Bruno feeds and keeps Shmuel company. Bruno helps Shmuel feel safe in the terrible situation he is living through. That is why it is such a great example.
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
Essay Question: “Books that engage directly with contemporary concerns and issues will always involve a reader”
Discuss the changes that take place between the novel and the film, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and the impact they have on you.
In the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’’ written by John Boyne, Bruno and Shmuel are more alike than different. Throughout the novel, John Boyne surely states their similarities more than their differences. Both Shmuel and Bruno had to leave their homes due to The Holocaust, both Bruno and Shmuel are scared of Lieutenant Kotler and have the same birthday.
In the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Bruno states to his new friend “We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?” but they still becameare friends. Even after he figures out that he isn’t supposed to be friends with Shmuel, he still continues to be because he and Shmuel need each
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 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
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.
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.