Boy In Striped Pyjamas Analysis

In the film, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas directed by Mark Herman, one important idea that is relevant to young people is “man’s inhumanity to man”. I will be discussing the conflict between Nazis and Jews, the friendship that Bruno and Shmuel shared and fanaticism in Germany at the time in relation to this idea. These topics are relevant to young people because they all contain a lesson or message behind them and they can relate to the film easily as the main characters are young as well. An important event which portrays this “man’s inhumanity to man” is in the dinner scene. A key film technique applied here is the silence during dinner, except for the clinking of cutlery. The silence and the way no one apart from Bruno made eye contact at …show more content…
It was WWII, Germany, early 40s, when Bruno and Shmuel first met on opposite sides the fence of a concentration camp not far from Bruno’s new house in Auschwitz. What was amazing about their friendship was how forbidden it was. Even though they were so different, coming from two entirely different worlds, they still had many things in common. These two 8 year olds managed to forge a meaningful relationship during this difficult time because they both had the desire for friendship. It did not matter to them that they were on different sides of the war – they were children who saw passed the barriers that adults had put up. People are not born with hatred, they are taught it through their lives, but Bruno however was not. Their friendship was one that ignored social contrasts, religious differences, and historical conditions. I believe Bruno and Shmuel are a good example for young people because they had an important friendship that underwent many obstacles but managed to survive nevertheless. Symbolically, their friendship was proven to be real as they both did not "like" Auschwitz. Across several scenes we continuously see the theme of “being behind bars” with the image of bars somewhere in the setting or background. Bruno and Shmuel share the same “trapped” feeling, although Bruno was …show more content…
This is fitting for the film because it contains many morals in it. Throughout these valuable lessons, probably the most important one is that "Nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age," quote from John Boyne, author of the novel. This makes readers face the harsh reality that hatred, discrimination, racism, and intolerance still are dangerous forces in our world. In my writing I have discussed “man’s inhumanity to man” - the conflict between Nazis and Jews, the unlikeliest friendship that Bruno and Shmuel shared and fanaticism in Germany at the time in relation to this idea. “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas explores the beauty of a child 's innocence in a time of war, the common desire we all have for friendship, and the fences—both literal and figurative—that we must all navigate and choose whether or not to break