Innocence In 'The Boy In The Striped Pajamas'

Throughout the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the reoccurring themes of innocence, friendship and human nature are clear. Innocence is shown by Shmuel and Bruno because they were born during the Holocaust and had to live through the hardships of this historical event. The boys are not aware of the full extent of the Holocaust and what is going on around them. Bruno and Shmuel represent a strong bond of friendship throughout the novel. Good versus evil is an example of human nature, another theme in the novel. Bruno and Shmuel represent good. Bruno’s Dad, the Fury and Lieutenant Kotler represent evil. I chose Izzy’s story to compare with this novel because it is a real life story written by Izzy, who survived the Holocaust. In Izzy’s …show more content…
Human Nature was shown with Izzy’s whole town being good and the German soldiers representing Evil. These themes have a huge impact in these two stories.
Innocence has been a theme in this book many times through the characters Bruno and Shmuel. Bruno is innocent because he is sheltered by his parents and has no idea what is going on in the world around him. Shmuel is innocent because he was going to a prison that he did not deserve to be in. “‘When we came here, there was another one on the other side of the platform but no one got on it… You should have got on,’ “and “‘The train was horrible,’ said Shmuel. ‘There were too many of us in the carriages for one thing. And it there was no air to breathe.’ “(Boyne 129-130) The two boys did not realize that the trains they traveled on were different for a reason. Bruno train was luxurious and was taking his family to his new home. Shmuel’s train was overcrowded, horrible, and was taking him to a camp. Izzy was innocent because he was born to a Jewish family and had done nothing wrong. He was going to be killed just because of his heritage. “…the police started chasing around the young people in town. The town was …show more content…
Shmuel and Bruno showed the good side of human nature by the way they treated others. For instance, whilst everyone in Bruno’s family was rude to Pavel and Maria, Bruno respected and wanted to know more about them. “‘What’s the matter with you tonight?’ he asked as Pavel uncorked the new bottle.’ This is the fourth time I’ve had to ask for more wine.’ Bruno watched him, hoping he was feeling alright…’” (Boyne 148) Shmuel was light hearted and kind despite the situation that he has encountered. Both boys represent a fine definition of good. Some people that were in the holocaust were thought to be bad but not all are. Izzy shared an example of this when he was trying to escape from a camp that was bad. “We paid off the people that took care of us, the guards, and when we got out we hired a horse and buggy and we went back to Dzialoszyce (their home town).”(Szklarczyk 4) Good and evil is in everyone, some in the holocaust show evil more than others. Some of the people are the German soldiers and they too are not only bad, they have some good clearly shown by Izzy’s story. All people have a choice to be good or bad in life. Some people in this novel demonstrate evil very well, such as, Bruno’s Father, Lieutenant Kotler, and the Fury. Evil is shown by many of Lieutenant Kotler’s actions in the novel. “’You go to the living room and read your book and leave this little ---- to finish his work.’ ‘He