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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas Essay

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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a heartbreaking novel written by John Boyne. Set during WWII, it is a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the nine-year son of the Commandant at the German concentration camp in Auschwitz. His friendship with a Jewish boy, Shmuel on the other side of the fence has shocking and unforeseen consequences. Boyne uses symbolism to explore the ideas in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The fence, Bruno and Gretel’s innocence and the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel are used to help explore these ideas. John Boyne uses symbolism throughout The Boy In Striped Pyjamas to highlight the limitations Bruno faces. In the novel, Bruno is not allowed near the wired fence. The …show more content…
Bruno and Gretel share a certain childlike innocence. The fence was very high, higher even than the house they were standing in, and there were huge wooden posts, like telegraph poles, dotted along it, holding it up. Gretel felt an unexpected pain inside her as she looked at the sharp spikes sticking out all the way round it. The reality is that neither of them know about the horrific sights that happen just a few miles away from them. When arriving in the new house in Auschwitz, Boyne describes Bruno seeing Gretel, putting her numerous dolls on the shelf. The dolls symbolise how young and innocent she is about her father’s job and the concentration …show more content…
He utilises, the fence, Bruno and Gretel’s innocence and Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship to draw the readers into Bruno’s world to experience the Holocaust through his innocent eyes. While the reader empathises with his journey, the techniques do more than just paint a picture of a young Nazi boy; they allow the reader to experience his life through her eyes, and connect with him on an emotional level. Because of this connection, the story remains one of the most famous in history, and one that will stand the test of time through

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