Suffering can be defined as, "The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship." This notion of suffering is evident in John Boyne's novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In his novel, Boyne emphasizes the hardships that the Jews faced through segregation and loss of material wealth. Boyne does this through two main characters named Bruno and Shmuel. Bruno is the son of a wealthy German solider during the Holocaust, and Shmuel is a prisoner in a concentration camp.
There is clear existence of separation of the Jews and Germans. For example, the Jews are physically kept away from the public through their imprisonment behind the gated concentration camp. This can be seen when Bruno discovers a fence near his house, and is warned by his parents not to go near. In addition, when Shmuel and Bruno have their regular meetings near the fence, upon hearing a bell, Shmuel cries that he cannot be near the fence when the
…show more content…
This is seen when Bruno's sister explains that whatever is going, referring to the holocaust, is great for Germans because now they get to become wealthier. This indicates that at one point, the Germans were not as wealthy as the Jews were. As a result, Adolf Hitler generates the holocaust as a way to suppress the Jews wealth. Hitler is successful in his mission, as a Jewish doctor ends up losing his job and becoming Bruno's family's servant. This shows the decline of the Jew's wealth and social status, as they now work for the Germans without pay. Moreover, another example of loss of social status can be seen as the Jews go from being wealthy to being seen as less than human. For example, Bruno's father explains to him that Jews are "not people" (page 106). Thus, before the holocaust, it is believed that the Germans were suffering as they were not as wealthy as the Jews. However, Germans gain power and wealth during and after the holocaust, allowing the Jews to
At a time of loss, the German people needed a reason to rebuild their spirits. The Jews became a national target even though Hitler’s theory could not be proven. Even as a Jew, he accused the Jews people for Germany’s defeat in order to rally the people against a group of people Hitler despised. The story-telling of the Jews’ wickedness distracts the Germans from realizing the terror Holocaust. Millions of Jewish people died because Hitler said they caused the downfall of Germany. Innocent lives were taken. The death of millions mark the rise of Hitler. He sets the stage for the largest massacre in
The Germans can only be described as monsters, for their horrific acts of cruelty are wholly inhumane. During the Holocaust, the Germans strip the Jews of everything in their possession, to the point where the Jews are completely dehumanized. This is all a part of the Germans’ scheme to massacre the Jews with...
The Holocaust was the state sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Six million Jews were killed through the process of identification, exclusion, confiscation, ghettoization, deportation and extermination. Many who fought against the Nazi’s are seen as heroes which is clearly portrayed in the film “Schindler’s List” through the protagonist Oskar Schindler as he saves the lives of 1100 Jews. Schindler was prepared to make his fortune from World War II. Joining the Nazi party for political convenience, he staffs his factory with Jewish laborers. At the point when the SS starts eradicating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler organized to have his workers secured
One of the many themes that has arose is the theme of injustice. The theme of injustice stood out just by reading the back of the book. As stated before, this book takes place in the time of Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany. If anyone had previous knowledge as to what Adolf Hitler’s “final solution” entitled, social injustice would evidently be pointed out. These prejudices could be something such as concentration camps, torture, discrimination of the Jewish race and the destruction of homes and shops. Although many Germans had no idea what was happening in Germany during Hitler’s reign, one would be quick to judge Germans as a whole. This is the perspective that is dominant in the novel, they never mention massacre or concentration camps, and they just lived their normal lives. After the author educates the reader about a Jewish man named Max Vandenburg, the narrator says: “You could argue that Liesel Meminger had it easy. She did have it easy compared to Max Vandenburg. Certainly, her brother practically died in her arms. Her mother abandoned her. But anything was better than being a Jew” (Zusak 161). This quote by itself shows how terribly the Jewish people were treated. In their daily lives, they are faced with destruction, social injustice, and discrimination. They are treated very disrespectfully; they live with racial slurs, house raids, as well as having the Star of David painted on
In Maus the Germans dislike the Jews and with this discrimination and mistreatment, it caused Vladek and his family many hardships by trying to survive, “It was many, many such stories-synagogues burned, Jews beaten with no reason, whole towns pushing out all Jews-Each story worse than the other” (Speigalman) this quote explains how the Germans just didn’t like the Jew and that’s why they were being beaten and their businesses were being taken away. There are people in this world that don’t like a certain race, and think that their race is better than others; like the Nazis in Maus who were German, didn’t like the Jew so they killed and mistreated them. In the story by Spiegalman Jews were sent to concentration camps that the Nazis built to slowly torture and kill them. Controlled by Adolf Hitler, the Nazis took away the businesses of Jews and their own personal belongings; Spiegalman writes, “Has the family been taking good care of my Bielsko textile factory? Don’t you know?..All the Jewish businesses have been taken over by the Aryan Managers” (Speigalman 76) this quote explains how the Germans were taking over the Jewish people’s businesses and there was nothing that they can do about
One day when Shmuel gets sent to shine glasses at his house him and Bruno start talking. A soldier see them and Bruno told him he didn’t know who he was, and the soldier beats the boy, Bruno feels terrible and want to make it up to Shmuel. Bruno wants to understand why the life behind the fence is so awful and why Shmuel isn’t happy. Bruno thinks it’s not better, but interesting because there are other kids to play with. They form a strong bond that can't be broken by anything and it makes him realize that his friends in Berlin weren't as special as Shmuel is and their friendship. The two boys have been talking and have been friends for about a year and decide that Bruno wants to go on the other side of the fence to see what its like and help him find his papa.
More so it discussed about the vast annihilation of the Jews, and the main component of the holocaust event in relation to the third prospect theory which states that losses are valued more than gains (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979, 2000; Levy, 200). In relating this theory to the holocaust, this theory becomes meaningful in the aspect where the properties, possessions and labor of the Jewish people are more valued than their lives, the Jews where annihilated by the Nazis so they could take over their business and wealth, to build up the nation’s wealth. The killing of the Jews is the loss in while the dominancy of their property, business and possessions is the
The Holocaust was the great plan to make Jews to become instinct and other people that Hitler considered inferior to him. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany led this great plan from 1933 to 1945. Approximately twelve million people had their lives taken, half being Jews. Everything changed and became impacted all around the world when Hitler took over Germany, he had a strong prejudice against the Jews. His goal was to create the perfect race of human, blonde hair, blue eyed Germans. The soldiers in Hitler’s camp was his followers, the Nazis, which did all of his dirty work for him. There were also many other people that contributed to his massive event. There became different clans and groups of people going out on their own and doing the killing also, not only Jews. For example, the doctors that ran test on people and experimented on the people didn’t care about their patients wellbeing or health
When segregation in schools was abolished in the 1950’s, the African American community surely did not anticipate any outcome that wasn’t positive. This is not to say that American schools should remain segregated, however, the sudden shift in the societal structure caused an imbalance in, what was intended to be, an equal opportunity classroom.
The Holocaust was the genocide of approximately six million people of innocent Jewish decent by the Nazi government. The Holocaust was a very tragic time in history due to the idealism that people were taken from their surroundings, persecuted and murdered due to the belief that German Nazi’s were superior to Jews. During the Holocaust, many people suffered both physically and mentally. Tragic events in people’s lives cause a change in their outlook on the world and their future. Due to the tragic events that had taken place being deceased in their lives, survivors often felt that death was a better option than freedom.
... During the rule of Adolf Hitler, many children who were Jewish lived a very frightening and difficult life. They were never given the love and compassion that every child needs and deserves growing up. The Holocaust is a story that will continue to be shared until the end of time. Works Cited Peabody, Halina.
Bruno, an eight year old boy at the time of the war, is completely oblivious to the atrocities of the war around him - even with a father who is a Nazi commandant. The title of the book is evidence to this - Bruno perceives the concentration camp uniforms as "striped pajamas." Further evidence is the misnomers "the Fury," (the Furher) and "Out-With" (Auschwitz). Bruno and Shmuel, the boy he meets from Auschwitz, share a great deal in common but perhaps what is most striking is the childhood innocence which characterizes both boys. Bruno is unaware that his father is a Nazi commandant and that his home is on ther periphery of Auschwitz. Shmuel, imprisoned in the camp, seems not to understand the severity of his situation. When his father goes missing, Shmuel does not understand that he has gone to the gas chamber.
First, Boyne’s novel fits Realistic Fiction because Auschwitz’s security was very flimsy. For example, Shmuel fled to the fence to talk with his friend for hours a day! He would have never escape the horrendous roll call taken several times a day! Also, there were towers in Auschwitz with gunmen ready to shoot anybody who strayed off. Also, it says that Bruno slipped under the fence to get to the other side. The fences were dug into the ground multipe feet down. They were electrically charged and considted of barb-wire. Also, if Bruno could get under, prisoners could escape! Secondly, the two main characters, Bruno and Shmuel were completely oblivious to their surroundings. Bruno was the son of a Nazi Commander and he did not know what a Jew was! Here we have the son of a very high in command officer in Hitler’s army and he does not know what his Father absolutely dispises! He also can not pronounce Auschwitz and the Fuhrer. He says “Out-With” and the “Fury.” Also, Shmuel spoke German, and could not pick up on what the Nazis were saying. He did not understand that when people left for work and “disappeared,” they were killed. Finally and most importantly, Shmuel, the main character, would never be alive in the first place! When trains full of
Many racial and ethnic groups are treated cruel, which contributes to the problem of discrimination. The inhumane treatment inflicted onto different racial and ethnic groups is provoking horrific violence around the world. The film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, gives us an insight to the cruel treatment endured by Jewish people in World War II. Jewish people were taken from their homes, separated from their families, and placed in concentration camps where they were expected to die. They were exposed to extreme levels of abuse, such as starvation, physical beatings, and emotional torture. The fear and terrorizing the soldiers used on the Jews is shown in the scene when Lieutenant Kotler catches Shmuel eating a cookie: “Are you eating? Have you been stealing food?