The novel “The Boy In Striped Pyjamas” is a story written by John Boyne, that is set in Berlin during the Holocaust, as this story begins you get to look into a life of a little 9 year old boy named Bruno, who has trouble with moving to the country side in Auschwitz, until he meets a new friend who lives in a concentration camp, but their friendship is forbidden according by adults because of religion, even though Bruno doesn’t understand why their so different to each other, which ends in their sad death together.
“Explain how the narrative elements help to convey a key theme in the novel” is the essay question for “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas” and the theme being used in this essay is innocence.
Innocence is the key theme in “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas” because Bruno is a pure child with nice thoughts without any bad ones. Even though Bruno is unaware of the Holocaust, Bruno is still taught by his tutor that Jews are evil, animals that’s why Gretel ended up throwing away her dolls and why her room ends up being covered in Hitler posters. This theme starts to get very consistent when Bruno goes under the fence to the concentration camp, and you can see from his face worry and how he wants to go home.
Firstly, the theme innocence is shown through Bruno by John Boyne making Bruno the main character, so that a message can go across that nobody is born racist or evil, but can be moulded into it from a young age by brainwashing from the adults around us. When Bruno made friends with Pavel their new servant, Bruno thought Pavel decided to become a potato peeler, even though he was forced too.
Bruno didn’t ask Pavel if he was Jewish, what he believed in or where he came from, because he doesn’t care and didn’t think it made a difference if they were friends.
This shows the innocence in the story being shown through Bruno an innocent child, and how he thinks about people and thing before being moulded or changed by an adult, so he can understand the Holocaust and to make him believe that Jewish people are evil.
Secondly, the theme innocence can also be seen through the conflict form the war on children like Gretel in the novel “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas”. Before Gretel and her family moved to Auschwitz, Gretel’s
The Holocaust was a terrible and depressing time during history. There were millions of people recklessly murdered, women and children included, just because of their religion, or because one person decided that he didn’t like them, or that they were a threat. They were thrown into concentration camps where all they did was suffer, work, and eventually, be killed. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas follows a boy whose father was a commandant of Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the largest, and most famous, of the death camps the Nazi’s (people who followed Hitler, the leader of the Holocaust). The boy, Bruno, meets a boy named Shmuel that lives in Auschwitz. Bruno and Shmuel soon become friends, and decide to go on a ‘final adventure’ together to try
One day, Bruno is looking out the window and asks his mother if he could “play with the children on the farm.” This is where the audience learns Bruno’s Harmartia, or tragic flaw, of his age. Children at Bruno’s age are innocent, kind, curious, and are often hidden from the evils of the world. Unknowingly, he moves close to a concentration camp, but due to his innocence, he believes the prison is a farm. He describes the “farmers” as looking “strange”
These factors contribute to the next technique: innocence. This technique is heavily portrayed in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas but is also shown in Life is Beautiful. Because of the perspective of a nine year old, there are many accounts of misunderstanding and obliviousness. For example, innocence is demonstrated through Bruno’s mispronunciation of words such as Auschwitz and The Führer (Hitler); instead, he alters them into “Out-With” and “The Fury.” This shows Bruno’s unawareness that Auschwitz is actually a slaughterhouse built especially for the Jews and that The Führer is the leader of the Nazi Party, the one who started all this. Life is Beautiful contains a slightly different version of innocence. Guido uses his childlike innocence and imagination to protect his own son’s innocence. This is shown particularly well when Guido uses this game (in the camp) to explain features of the concentration camp, for instance, when Guido explains to his son that “The guards are mean only because they want the tank for themselves.”
“How do I look?” Bruno asked as he was putting his pajamas on. Shmuel responded with a nod indicating that they look alike. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas portrays a family during the German war and all the struggles they had faced. Bruno, who is the son of this family, wanted nothing but to go on an adventure. He even went against his mother’s strict orders not to leave and found himself outside a concentration camp. Children tend to have their own views on the world which results in them not seeing how harsh the world truly is especially when it comes to the aspect of race. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the power of rhetoric is shown in the culture between the German’s and the Jew’s lives and the
'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' is a story about a young, wealthy boy who moves to the countryside for his father's job (a Military Commandant). Throughout the book, Bruno forms a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy from the concentration camp situated next to his new house. The story ends when Bruno decides to enter the concentration camp to help his new friend Shmuel. The book focuses largely on the cruelty of man, which is displayed by the way the Jews are treated. Friendship amidst suffering is frequently displayed in this book, as demonstrated by Bruno and Shmuel's friendship. The author, John Boyne, incorporates symbols into his writing which adds emphasis to key factors within the book. John Boyne also uses dramatic irony throughout
During the time period 1933 to 1945, a very devastating event occurred in history, the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a time where Adolf Hitler created an army of people to kill Jews so he could create the “perfect race”. Those with blonde hair and blue eyes were safe, but everyone else was considered a Jew, therefore being someone Hitler didn’t want to include in his “perfect race”. In the end he had killed about six million Jews, which tore apart many families (history.com). In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, it talks about the Holocaust in the point of view of a young boy named Bruno. Bruno was very naive and oblivious to the situation happening around him. He didn’t quite understand what was happening, nor did he really want to know. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, it was good that Bruno was naive about the Holocaust throughout the novel because it allowed him to
In many fictional works the setting can change the whole story in the blink of an eye. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is a book set in WWII. However, the story is told through the eyes of a young, innocent german boy named Bruno. Bruno’s family lives in Berlin until Hitler orders Bruno’s father to move to Auschwitz to direct the camp. Bruno eventually meets and befriends one of the Jewish prisoners living in the camp. Specific parts of the setting such as the weather and the time period can heavily influence the mood, negatively or positively. Also, individual aspects of the character’s surroundings can provide the basis for important events and/or twists in the plot. Character's thoughts, actions, and feelings can be developed with help from the setting. The setting of a concentration camp negatively influences the mood, provides the basis for pivotal events in the plot, and develops the character’s thoughts and actions in The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.
In the novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, the author highlights the main characters point of view to convey the theme that children who are sheltered from bad happening around them have a different,more positive, view of the world. Set during WWII, the story tells of a young boy named Bruno who meets another young boy, called Shmuel, and they form an incredible friendship. At the beginning of the book Bruno and his family are forced to move to Auschwitz. Bruno is very curious about many things, so it is only natural that when he sees the people in the striped pajamas behind a fence out of his window, he decides to check it out.That is when he meets Shmuel, a young Jew.
The close-up shot of Bruno shown here gives the audience an idea of how the young boy is feeling, as we see from the eyes full of emotion and wonder that he has never seen something like this “farm” and judging by his young personality we have been presented to beforehand, we know he will want to investigate further. Bruno is like the younger sister in the poem, as he is young and naïve, always moving and excited with everything in life, always ready for another adventure and eager to see new things, and he is never scared to take part in everything. However, because of the ominous music playing softly in the background, we are introduced to the idea that this place, although it looks small from a distance and not unsafe, there is something very wrong with the peculiar buildings beyond the trees. The image of the concentration camp is shown from a long shot, giving us perspective as to what Bruno is seeing, and how from a distance it looks isolated and
First, On page 202 it says “ You still want to help me find Papa?’ asked Shmuel and Bruno nodded quickly” This shows that bruno is helpful and kind because he wants to help shmuel find his dad. This builds suspense because bruno is NOT ALLOWED to go on the other side of the fence with the jews. Secondly, On page 190 Bruno says “ I’d prefer all four of us to stay together” (When Bruno’s dad asked them if they wanted to move back to Berlin Bruno said he would go where the family went and wanted to stay together.) This is a revealing action about bruno because it shows how he is a caring person and wants to stay with his family. It builds suspense because his dad needs to stay because he is a soldier working. Lastly, On page 208 the author states “ When the soldier walked into the cabin Bruno said “ I don't think I like it here.” This reveals that Bruno does not like the life that shmuel lives and wants to go home. It builds suspense because the soldiers are bringing him somewhere and Bruno doesn't want to be there. To conclude, the author writes about actions that reveal Bruno’s caring
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,
innocence is the theme that develops throughout the novel. Bruno misinterprets what is going on in
Show how the character of Gretel develops in ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. You must closely analyse framing, set, props, costume colour and lighting (mise-en-scene). Remember to put each shot you mention into context and state how it contributes to the character development of Gretel. Aim to write 3 A4 pages.
They say that ignorance is bliss. That is somewhat true, as not understanding the atrocities in our world would surely make a happier person. However, innocence can also lead to calamity. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne, is a coming of age story about Bruno, the son of a Nazi Commandant under Adolf Hitler. Bruno was initially very ignorant of what was happening in the world and was very immature about moving from Berlin. As the days went by, he got used to his new home and his thoughts were maturing, as he started thinking with logic and rationale. Bruno finally understands that he has to be a good person to everyone regardless what others might think. His character has strongly developed. Despite Bruno being unaware of his situation and his father being a Nazi, he matures from being childish and unsatisfied for moving to finally finding purpose in life by being a good human being.
‘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.