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Theme of innocence in the boy in striped pyjamas
Narrative in the boy in the striped pyjamas
Essay on the theme of friendship in the boy in the striped pajamas
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John Boyne’s novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ details the traumatic effects of the Holocaust, seen through the perspective of a young boy. Bruno, as the central protagonist, finds himself as part of a most unlikely friendship, which is overshadowed by NAZI occupied Poland during WW2. Throughout the text, Bruno develops relationships with many characters which predominantly outlines friendship, despite the atrocities occurring around him. As sworn enemies, the peculiar friendship between Bruno and Shmuel, and encounters with Pavel, each outline the importance of friendship. Bruno’s relationship with Pavel and conversations between them, depicts Bruno's innate ability to build a rapport with those around him. Bruno’s relationship with Pavel is quickly established through positive interactions, as well as the drive of childhood curiosity. The foundation of their relationship is clear as Pavel and Bruno discuss, and agree upon the distasteful nature of ‘Out-With’, “ ‘It’s not the same here.’ ‘Nothing is the same here,’ agreed Pavel. (p. 84) The relationship between Pavel and Bruno, is still further developed in the text, as Bruno remembers Pavel’s kindness, “He remembered how kind Pavel had been to him on …show more content…
As Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship strengthens, through the novel's progression it leads to an unsettling outcome. After Bruno had snuck under the fence, to help in Shmuel find his papa, they found themselves in an awful situation. Regardless of this, it is evident that Bruno was consciously, thinking of his relationship with Shmuel. As Bruno states, “You’re my best friend, Shmuel…My best friend for life” (p.213). As the terrible situation unfolds, “Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own, and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go.” (p.213) This bittersweet moment suggested that their friendship endured until their
While the adults show their disgust and hatred to the Jews, Bruno doesn't mind them and is nice to Pavel, the Jew that got him the tire, and later becomes friends with Shmuel. Bruno’s father is a soldier and is in charge of the concentration camp. Even with all the Jew hating Germans around him, he still goes out to visit Shmuel and doesn’t let them ruin his friendship. Near the end of the movie Bruno shows his friend how much he cares by entering the camp to help look for Shmuel’s father, who had gone missing. While entering the camp, Bruno learned first hand how bad the camps actually were and wished he hadn’t come. Even with these feelings he still wants to help his friend, which eventually leads to his demise.
By means of comic illustration and parody, Art Spiegelman wrote a graphic novel about the lives of his parents, Vladek and Anja, before and during the Holocaust. Spiegelman’s Maus Volumes I and II delves into the emotional struggle he faced as a result of his father’s failure to recover from the trauma he suffered during the Holocaust. In the novel, Vladek’s inability to cope with the horrors he faced while imprisoned, along with his wife’s tragic death, causes him to become emotionally detached from his son, Art. Consequently, Vladek hinders Art’s emotional growth. However, Art overcomes the emotional trauma his father instilled in him through his writing.
The mood of Night is harder to interpret. Many different responses have occurred in readers after their perusal of this novel. Those that doubt the stories of the holocaust’s reality see Night as lies and propaganda designed to further the myth of the holocaust. Yet, for those people believing in the reality, the feelings proffered by the book are quite different. Many feel outrage at the extent of human maliciousness towards other humans. Others experience pity for the loss of family, friends, and self that is felt by the holocaust victims. Some encounter disgust as the realization occurs that if any one opportunity had been utilized the horror could of been avoided. Those missed moments such as fleeing when first warned by Moshe the Beadle, or unblocking the window when the Hungarian officer had come to warn them, would have saved lives and pain.
The poem “The action in the ghetto of Rohatyn, March 1942” by Alexander Kimel is an amazing literary work which makes the reader understand the time period of the Holocaust providing vivid details. Kimel lived in an “unclean” area called the ghetto, where people were kept away from German civilians. The poet describes and questions himself using repetition and rhetorical questions. He uses literary devices such as repetition, comparisons, similes and metaphors to illustrate the traumatizing atmosphere he was living in March 1942.
When Bruno moved to Auschwitz he was completely oblivious to the Holocaust. When he met Shmuel, he became slightly more aware, but couldn’t comprehend what it all meant. It is ironic that his innocence sheltered him from the traumatizing truth of the Holocaust, but it is what killed him in the
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.
All of the characters have loose ties to one another, but where all there paths seem to intertwine most is in their relationship with Singer, the deaf mute. The other four main characters all begin to confide in singer early in the story, and believe that he is the only one that truly understands them. Singer is a very kind person, and is always there for his new found friends. However, what Singer really longs for is his former companion, Antonapoulos. Antonapoulos means the world to Singer, but they are separated when Antonapoulos is sent to live in an asylum. Antonapoulos is a very crude character in this book. All he seems to care about is self gratification through food, drink and whatever else pleases him. While Singer demonstrates a very deep and real love for him, Anto...
... a perfect example of a truly innocent person (Shmuel) and an arguably unsympathetic character (Bruno) whom can be portrayed as denying the truth meeting the same fate. As we can see by Lennie’s death and Bruno’s death, ignorance and innocence lead to the same fate in the end.
Thus, through the various distortions posed throughout The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne reveals many aspects of truth. Such distortions allow the author to evoke the audience’s emotion, portray the Holocaust to younger readers and communicate humans’ capacity for brutality and apathy. This is achieved by Boyne through the exaggeration of the innocence of Bruno, the misrepresented content of the novel as well as the distinctive voice of youth. Narrative, in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, is therefore presented as a device that distorts aspects of truth in order to reveal. However, in the end, it is the choice of the reader as to whether they will consider the narrative to be a ‘fable’ which reveals a message or an actual source of knowledge and truth.
When the Holocaust is featured in literature, survival, interpersonal interactions, and resourcefulness of main characters is often shown. In Maus I and Maus II, Art Spiegelman utilizes the graphic novel format to tell the story of Vladek Spiegelman’s application of bilingual, bartering, and salesmanship skills to survive the tragic lifestyle of camps in the Holocaust. In contrast, in the memoir, Night, by Elie Wiesel, Elie portrays his family’s manipulation of lack of faith, prior knowledge of basic first aide, and sale of Elie’s golden-crowned tooth to persevere through the suffering faced during the Holocaust. At the same time, Spiegelman’s stories Maus I and Maus II and Wiesel’s novel Night show the importance of interpersonal interactions and the struggle to survive through the eyes of Jews living during the Holocaust, the differences in how they employ their resources and how they remain alive cause an obvious divergence between the novels.
...dship even in the darkest and devastating of endings. The interpretation of Bruno and Shmuel’s bond in the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is fundamental in understanding the significant theme of love and friendship.
Imagine waking up on a normal day, in your normal house, in your normal room. Imagine if you knew that that day, you would be taken away from your normal life, and forced to a life of death, sickness, and violence. Imagine seeing your parents taken away from you. Imagine watching your family walk into their certain death. Imagine being a survivor. Just think of the nightmares that linger in your mind. You are stuck with emotional pain gnawing at your sanity. These scenerios are just some of the horrific things that went on between 1933-1945, the time of the Holocaust. This tragic and terrifying event has been written about many times. However, this is about one particularly fascinating story called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?” ( page 118) Bruno knows that this is a friendship is usually forbidden, but he continues to have a strong companionship with Shmuel. From this theme in the novel, I've learnt that you have to change your perspective to the enemy so you can change your attitude towards them. Bruno never hated the Jews, he was naive and did not get to have his own opinion as his father was a German soldier, when Bruno met Shmuel, he realised that the prisoners were not bad people and there was no reasonable explanation for why they are being treated so
To begin, the two boys’ relationship relates to Knapp’s stages of relational development. First, the first two stages, initiation and experimentation, can be seen when Bruno first meets Shmuel. The two introduce themselves and Bruno notices the number on Shmuel’s uniform. They also both find out that they are eight-years-old. Next, the relationship also demonstrates the intensifying stage. Particularly, it shows the separation test. Even though Bruno and Shmuel are not able to play together, Bruno still thinks about Shmuel. Furthermore, the integration stage is also shown.
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.