'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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
The fence that surrounds the concentration camp is a very important symbol. On one side of the fence, life is great, while on the other side, the most unpleasant things occur. The fence is a symbol as it separates two very different worlds. "There was a huge wire fence that ran along the length of the house and turned in at the top, extending further along in either direction, further than she could possibly see." (Page 31). At the end of the book, Bruno decides to crawl under the fence to help Shmuel find his father. The fence is overcome when Bruno crawls under. This symbolises that the fence and people's disagreements could be overcome if they tried. Once on the other side of the fence, Bruno starts to realise how different it is from his side of the fence. He becomes scared and wants to go home. This shows how easily one fence can separate two completely different worlds. Another major symbol is the striped pyjamas. The detention centre uniforms are what divide the Jews from the Germans. This is overcome in the book as Bruno decides to put on the uniform, therefore making him equal to every Jew in the centre. When Bruno is dressed in the pyjamas, he, Shmuel and every other person in the uniform are seen as the same. This symbolises that there are no major differences between Jews and Germans. Every human being should be seen as equal and given the same
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
The major theme of the book is shown through the bonds of friendship and how in the most of unlikely circumstances friendship can survive and exist between people possessing an extensive and most restrictive division. A second theme is the evil and the intolerance which existed around these times of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust, as seen by the Germans having the Jews in the concentration camp. And the third theme is the curiosity and innocence of Bruno, Shmuel and
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 Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas is a novel written by John Boyne. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is about a young man named Bruno. Bruno moves from Berlin to Auschwitz. Bravery and courage comes in many forms – from moving to a new place you’ve never been before, to making new friends with people you’ve never met. Bruno is one such character that displays strong acts of bravery. Moreover, the intention of this essay is to explain in greater depth why Bruno is a justifiably brave character.
Bruno used to live in Berlin in a five story mansion with his three best friends for life; Karl, Daniel and Martin. Bruno’s mateship with his friends is demonstrated at the beginning of the book when he Constantly complains that he must move away from his three best friends for life. “‘Say goodbye to Karl and Daniel and Martin?’... ‘But they’re my three best friends for life!’” pg 7. During the Duration of the book the protagonist latches onto a different, obscure but deeper friendship with another character, through this he realises that Karl,Daniel,and Martin aren’t his best friends after all. “When he thought back he could remember that Karl and Martin were two of his three best friends for life, but try as he might he couldn’t remember who the other one was.” pg 176. Throughout the novel bruno creates an innovative relationship with family member and members of the household, in particular he meets Pavel, the potato peeler. Bruno also improves his love hate relationship with Gretel his sister as well as creating a overwhelming connection with the Family maid Maria.
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
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a novel by John Boyne that has recently been turned into a film. It tells the story of a young German boy (Bruno), and a Jewish boy (Shmuel)’s “forbidden” friendship. Bruno, located on the opposite side of a huge barbed-wire fence that guards the concentration camp where Shmuel is confined, has never had a friend he can’t play with. Throughout the novel, their friendship grows and both boys learn very important lessons. When the novel was made into a film, a few things were changed, some were
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
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.
Beginning: Bruno wanted to meet Shmuel and become friends with him at first sight; He wanted to play with him also. But they were separated by a fence. I can relate to that because I like meeting new friends and when I meet them I normally ask to go play and have a conversation with them.
Children’s innocence and unconditional love for their parents often unleash terror and abuse. It is impossible not to perceive the author’s hidden parallels: the nation’s that blindly follow their “chosen one” without questioning his decisions and true motifs march to imminent doom. Bruno comes to terms with his new life rather briskly and is perfectly willing to go on as long as he has a pleasant distraction - Shmuel - in his life. He instinctively avoids the question that can expose the horrors of his “best friend’s” existence or his father’s true nature. Even after witnessing the sad reality of the concentration camp with his own eyes, Bruno walks into the gas chamber with an unshakable thought that “... Father was the commandant, and if this was the kind of thing that he wanted the people to do then it must be all right” (Boyne 210). This very school of thought has been luring people into senseless wars and self-ruin from the beginning of time.
Bruno once saw people getting forced into a truck and naively wondered where they were going and why they were getting forced. Bruno’s family moved from Berlin to Out-With because of Bruno’s father’s work. Bruno looked out of the window at his new house and saw his dad walk to the other side of the fence. Bruno thought it was a farm and wondered why some people wore striped pajamas and some a uniform. Out of curiosity, he started to explore and met a boy on the other side of the fence and began to meet with him almost everyday. He learnt that the people wearing pajamas were scared of the people wearing a uniform because they were always yelling. Bruno noticed his dad wore a uniform but thought he could never be a bad soldier, but Shmuel thought otherwise, “‘There aren’t any good soldiers,’ said Shmuel’” (P.140). Bruno has a biased opinion about his father because he trusted him. Bruno does not understand certain things about the Holocaust and he did not know that during the Holocaust there were no nice Nazi soldiers. Bruno and Shmuel had similarities, and when Bruno shaved his head, they looked almost identical except that Shmuel was bruised, very skinny and always sad, “Bruno was sure that he had never seen a skinnier or sadder boy in his life.” (P.107) Bruno could not understand why, as he did not understand what kind of life Shmuel lived on the other side of the fence. Bruno was ignorant about the Holocaust and when
‘The boy in the striped pyjamas’ written by John Boyne and directed by Mark Herman tells the disastrous story of a young boy Bruno and his family in Nazi Germany; the family move to the countryside when his Nazi officer dad got a promotion at a concentration camp less than a mile away from their house. Bruno meets a new boy who later becomes friends in a wild friendship. Gretel, Bruno’s sister, gets influenced by a Nazi soldier and by her teacher, which makes her drastically change into a young Nazi woman. The changes progress when looking at the five shots from the film and studying mise-en-scene.
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.
The movie realistically depicts the suffering and the treatment the Jews went through during the Holocaust. The Jews were not labeled as people during this time, this is evident when Bruno’s father tries to explain who the Jews in the concentration were, and said, “the thing is, Bruno, those people...Well, you see, they're not really people at all.” They were treated worse than dirt and any job before they had before entering the concentration camp became useless. One Jew in the movie, Pavel practiced as a doctor before the war, but now peeled potatoes to survive. Pavel receives a beating over an accident when he spilled one of the soldier’s wine at dinner, but the true reason he receives the beating because the officer took his frustration out on him. The main reason they were treated badly during that time because many believed the Jews were the cause of Germany losing the War, Gretel explains this to Bruno, “They're evil, Bruno. Evil, dangerous vermin. They're the reason we lost the Great War.” Germany takes its frustration out on the Jews, just like the officer did to Pavel. They live in horrible conditions at the work camps; they are forced to sleep in small wooden bunks with other prisoner crammed in there with them. When Bruno and Shmuel are in the camp there are snarling