Although it’s written from the point of view of a child, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas includes many themes which make it much more complex and interesting than a children’s book. The most important themes in the book are innocence, friendship, boundaries, and obedience.
Firstly, the theme of innocence is shown very frequently, due to the fact that the story is shown from a child’s perspective. Many things that Bruno does not know about or understand are left out or not explained correctly. This requires the reader to fill in information and makes them really have to think about what is happening. An example of this intentional omission of details is the mispronunciation of the words “Auschwitz” and “Fuhrer”. Bruno has misheard these words, …show more content…
Multiple characters are forced to decide between obeying commands or disobeying and doing what they think is right. For example, Bruno is told multiple times not to go near the fence or speak to the prisoners. However, Bruno doesn’t see anything wrong with Shmuel, and doesn’t understand why he isn’t allowed to speak to him. He faces the decision of obeying what he’s been told or doing something he knows is right and talking to Shmuel, bringing him food, and befriending him. Father also has this sort of a dilemma. Somewhere inside him, he knows it’s wrong to be working for the Nazis, but he tells himself that it’s fine, because were he to disobey the Fuhrer’s orders, he would be fired or even killed. Bruno ultimately disobeys, leading to his demise, whereas Father continues to obey, aware of the consequences if he didn’t, until the end of the book, when he realizes what happened to Bruno and why his job is wrong.
The themes of innocence, friendship, boundaries, and obedience work to create a very effective and interesting literary work. Without these underlying themes, the book would not be much more advanced than a children’s book, and would not have the same effect on the reader. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is referred to as a fable, which is a story conveying a moral. I believe that the moral of the story is that we are really all the same, and without these themes, the moral would be much less significant, defeating the purpose of the
Firstly, the theme of innocence is shown very frequently, due to the fact that the story is shown from a child’s perspective. Many things that Bruno does not know about or understand are left out or not explained correctly. This requires the reader to fill in information and makes them really have to think about what is happening. An example of this intentional omission of details is the mispronunciation of the words “Auschwitz” and “Fuhrer”. Bruno has misheard these words, …show more content…
Multiple characters are forced to decide between obeying commands or disobeying and doing what they think is right. For example, Bruno is told multiple times not to go near the fence or speak to the prisoners. However, Bruno doesn’t see anything wrong with Shmuel, and doesn’t understand why he isn’t allowed to speak to him. He faces the decision of obeying what he’s been told or doing something he knows is right and talking to Shmuel, bringing him food, and befriending him. Father also has this sort of a dilemma. Somewhere inside him, he knows it’s wrong to be working for the Nazis, but he tells himself that it’s fine, because were he to disobey the Fuhrer’s orders, he would be fired or even killed. Bruno ultimately disobeys, leading to his demise, whereas Father continues to obey, aware of the consequences if he didn’t, until the end of the book, when he realizes what happened to Bruno and why his job is wrong.
The themes of innocence, friendship, boundaries, and obedience work to create a very effective and interesting literary work. Without these underlying themes, the book would not be much more advanced than a children’s book, and would not have the same effect on the reader. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is referred to as a fable, which is a story conveying a moral. I believe that the moral of the story is that we are really all the same, and without these themes, the moral would be much less significant, defeating the purpose of the