First They Killed My Father Analysis

The memoir First they Killed my Father voices the thoughts of a five-year-old Cambodian girl who endures a life of war. The novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, explores the two sides, both victim and oppressor, both Jew and German through the eyes of two children, Shmuel and Bruno. Both texts are written but with the intention to be spoken of, and to spread the powerful message they contain. First they Killed my Father is the autobiography of the conscious Loung Ung and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a fiction novel based on the history of World War II. The following compares the two texts by scrutinizing the themes of survival and inequality, purpose and characters in both texts.
In the world, there exists people who are aware and people who are oblivious to their surroundings. Naivety can be developed due to a lack of exposure to the reality of the outside world, being restricted to the pleasant things of life and the cocoon of home. The characters Loung and Bruno are stark opposites of each other; while Bruno is protected by his innocence, Loung’s situation has caused her to come out of her shell of ignorance. This is revealed through her language, “I cannot think of Pa being hurt this way… I need to believe Pa was killed quickly.” When Loung’s father is taken away by the soldiers to …show more content…
Bruno is an oblivious child who knows not of his father’s immense dislike for the Jews based on their ethnicity. Loung on the other hand, is made to act and think older than she is due to the harsh circumstances that she is exposed to. Bruno’s naivety and excitement for an ‘adventure’ to the gas chambers leads to his death with the attire of the Jews while Loung survives when it is almost impossible. From this we acquire that we must wish for others what we wish for ourselves and to persist and be resilient when life throws challenges at