Bruno's Innocence In The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

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Exploring an Innocent Perspective What events and experiences lead Bruno to gradually give up some of his innocence and see things differently? Bruno first starts to give up his innocence when he learns that Shmuel is a Jew. He backs away like he wants nothing to do with him, but he later returns to the camp to see him. The next thing Bruno sees to make him see things differently is when he hears Pavel being beaten after spiling the wine. His mother has started to warm up to Pavel after helping Bruno when he fell of the swing. He was shocked almost paralized by what he heard going on in the next room. To conclude, Bruno sees many things that would lead him to gradually give up his innocence, but the two largest are when he learns that Shmuel is a Jew and when Pavel gets beaten. The Essence of Friendship The barbed wire fence is a physical separation between Bruno and Shmuel. What other types of separation does the fence represent in the story? …show more content…

Other separations include the fact that they could never play together, and that Bruno’s dad was a Nazi soldier, but the main separation is that Shmuel is a Jew. Bruno’s parents, sister, and even tutor tell Bruno of all the “bad things” that Jews do. When Shmuel tells Bruno that he is a Jew, Bruno slowly backs away and says that he will be back later. This tells us that the things he has absorbed from his surroundings are wearing on him, but he still wants to be Shmuel’s friend. The fence in the story represents the fact that they were never supposed to be friends, and really never even talk to each

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