Topic: Compare how the theme of innocence is represented in The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Through having innocence as a key theme, the author of the novel The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (written by John Boyne) and director of the film The Book Thief (directed by Brian Percival) have succeeded in capturing the reader’s attention and emotions, therefore intriguing the reader and taking an emotional effect unto their life. In order to do this, innocence is not directly mentioned, but rather hinted through many different aspects throughout the story. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief both use different approaches when it comes to innocence. By intensively comparing and contrasting the stories, the different aspects …show more content…
By analyzing the stories side by side, it can be seen that the characters grow up in completely different environments, they lose their innocence due to being exposed to the consequences of war. When Liesel so loudly proclaims that she ‘hates the Fuhrer’ with her friend, the audience is indirectly told that she does not know about the excetutions that Hitler performs to those who perform the ‘act of treason’. Bruno is a German boy whom his parents fiercely protects from discovering the horrors inside the concentration camps. His pronunciation of “Out-With” [p.24] remains uncorrected throughout the story as “Out-With” [p.196]. The mispronunciation and misunderstanding of Auschwitz is solid evidence of Bruno’s refusal to accept the current world that he lives in. Another prime example of Bruno’s ignorance is the mispronunciation of ‘the Fury’ [p.2], despite his father’s attempts to fix his incompetency as the eldest son of a Nazi soldier, Bruno’s response simply; ‘Oh… never mind…” [p.117]. Bruno’s mindset is that of an innocent child, his simple actions tell the audience that he is innocent through and through. His child-like actions are indicated through every chapter of the …show more content…
Innocence can be seen to be a metaphorical ‘wall’ that protects a world that children build up through their everyday experience. In The Book Thief, Liesel’s ‘wall’ is slowly smashed to the ground as the Hitler’s actions takes dramatic effect to her family, eventually, taking them away from her. Liesel witnesses how Hitler’s choice of actions take hold of German families in her neighborhood brought her to hate him as a human being. Rudy, the most innocent character in The Book Thief, displays incompetency to interpret the discrimination of races during Hitler’s rule. He “paints himself black” [Mr. Steiner] and runs on the race track thinking that he "was being Jesse Owens" [Rudy] and does not comprehend what his father means when he says that the Nazis will “take him away” [Mr. Steiner] and that he is lucky to be born with what the National Socialists considered to be perfect genes. The Nazi’s loved children like Rudy and Liesel because they build up the ‘Master Race’ that Hitler dreamed about. Rudy’s innocence is the obstacle that blocks him from interpreting the discrimination between ‘blacks and whites’. Bruno’s innocence, however, is what prevents his mind from interpreting what he sees when he officially enters “Out-with” [p.214] towards the end of the story, he sees skinny people, but does
Through having innocence as a key theme, the author of the novel The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (written by John Boyne) and director of the film The Book Thief (directed by Brian Percival) have succeeded in capturing the reader’s attention and emotions, therefore intriguing the reader and taking an emotional effect unto their life. In order to do this, innocence is not directly mentioned, but rather hinted through many different aspects throughout the story. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief both use different approaches when it comes to innocence. By intensively comparing and contrasting the stories, the different aspects …show more content…
By analyzing the stories side by side, it can be seen that the characters grow up in completely different environments, they lose their innocence due to being exposed to the consequences of war. When Liesel so loudly proclaims that she ‘hates the Fuhrer’ with her friend, the audience is indirectly told that she does not know about the excetutions that Hitler performs to those who perform the ‘act of treason’. Bruno is a German boy whom his parents fiercely protects from discovering the horrors inside the concentration camps. His pronunciation of “Out-With” [p.24] remains uncorrected throughout the story as “Out-With” [p.196]. The mispronunciation and misunderstanding of Auschwitz is solid evidence of Bruno’s refusal to accept the current world that he lives in. Another prime example of Bruno’s ignorance is the mispronunciation of ‘the Fury’ [p.2], despite his father’s attempts to fix his incompetency as the eldest son of a Nazi soldier, Bruno’s response simply; ‘Oh… never mind…” [p.117]. Bruno’s mindset is that of an innocent child, his simple actions tell the audience that he is innocent through and through. His child-like actions are indicated through every chapter of the …show more content…
Innocence can be seen to be a metaphorical ‘wall’ that protects a world that children build up through their everyday experience. In The Book Thief, Liesel’s ‘wall’ is slowly smashed to the ground as the Hitler’s actions takes dramatic effect to her family, eventually, taking them away from her. Liesel witnesses how Hitler’s choice of actions take hold of German families in her neighborhood brought her to hate him as a human being. Rudy, the most innocent character in The Book Thief, displays incompetency to interpret the discrimination of races during Hitler’s rule. He “paints himself black” [Mr. Steiner] and runs on the race track thinking that he "was being Jesse Owens" [Rudy] and does not comprehend what his father means when he says that the Nazis will “take him away” [Mr. Steiner] and that he is lucky to be born with what the National Socialists considered to be perfect genes. The Nazi’s loved children like Rudy and Liesel because they build up the ‘Master Race’ that Hitler dreamed about. Rudy’s innocence is the obstacle that blocks him from interpreting the discrimination between ‘blacks and whites’. Bruno’s innocence, however, is what prevents his mind from interpreting what he sees when he officially enters “Out-with” [p.214] towards the end of the story, he sees skinny people, but does