The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Essay

The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne captures the life of nine-year old Bruno while he lives at Out-With, a concentration camp for Jews his father was stationed at, and creates a rather unusual friendship with Shmuel, a young Jew living in an entirely different world. Bruno and his family move from Berlin to a strange place called Out-With, with his father, an important commandant, mother and sister, Gretel. While exploring the fence, Bruno meets a boy his age on the other side named Shmuel and they become the best of friends. A year later, Bruno’s mother decides that she, Gretel, and Bruno would move back to Berlin while their father stays to continue his work. The day before they leave, Bruno sneaks under the fence disguised as a Jew. The boys get herded into a room along with others, and the doors close and locked. His father …show more content…
The year is 1943. The book flashes back and forth from past to present. Bruno would start describing a story and it would flash back to that moment and it would play out like it was the present. The main character, Bruno, is a nine-year old curious adventurous boy who loved acting out plays with his grandmother and sister. His sister’s name is Gretel and she is 12-years old. She and Bruno disagree on many things, but in the end she becomes depressed because they don’t know where Bruno went. Bruno wanted to be an explorer and loved being outside building things like tire swings. He was surprisingly intelligent for someone of his age. My favorite part of the story was when Bruno decided to cross the fence. Even though it ended badly, I admire the courage it took for Bruno to make that decision. He knew that he might have gotten in trouble, but he wanted to see Shmuel’s house, friends, and family. Shmuel and Bruno were clever to come up with the idea that Bruno should dress in the striped pajamas that everyone else wore to blend