the boy in the striped pajamas book review

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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas – a book review by Giorgia N.

• Posted by Giorgia N.
• Categories Students Featured Content
• Date June 1, 2017

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS

The Mystery of the Other Side of the Fence

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, written by John Boyne in 2006, is a historical dramatic novel which is set during the Second World War when Hitler, the Fuehrer, dominated Germany and created concentration camps all over Europe to exterminate Jews, considered inferior to the rest of the human beings. In other words, this clearly is a book on the victims of the Holocaust, which uses imaginary people to represent the atrocities that happened during the Second World War, by showing the reader two points of view (a Jewish one and a German one).

Bruno (the protagonist of the story) is a young boy, aged nine, who lives with his mother, father and sister Gretel in Berlin. Suddenly, because of his dad’s job (which is unknown at the beginning of the story) they have to move to Poland. Their new house, “Out-with” is not very nice, but there is something out of Bruno’s bedroom window which is very intriguing, something on the other side of the fence: he can see some soldiers, who are laughing and having fun and many children who are all standing close together with their heads facing the floor. All of them have something in common: they all seem to wear the same striped pyjamas. The soldiers’ behaviour show dominance and importance, whilst the children are passive and oppressed, they don’t seem to have confidence.

Throughout the story, Bruno meets a Jewish boy named Shmuel (aged just like him) who comes from the other side of the fence. The two kids become friends and every afternoon they meet, they sit down and they talk. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship. Bruno doesn’t know that Shmuel is a prisoner of the concentration camp he can see from his bedroom (Auschwitz) and that his father is a commandant of the camp, and that he works every day for Hitler.

Bruno and Shmuel had always wanted to play together but, because of the fence that separated them, they never really manged to. So one day, Bruno, who loves exploring, decides to help Shmuel to find his Papa, who has suddenly disappeared. He goes on the other side of the fence, where he can actually see Shmuel without any physical separation between them.

What will happen in the concentration camp? Will Bruno totally understand what is going on and who his father really is? Will he manage to get back home?

Bruno, a very curious boy who likes exploring, is an interesting character because of the friendship he develops with Shmuel, the way in which he directly disobeys his parents, and the way in which he changes from a naïve and innocent child to a more understanding and understanding friend.

The second main character might be Shmuel, maybe because he is Bruno’s new best friend. He is a very mature boy for his age, even if he hides his real destiny in the concentration camp not to terrify his friend who doesn’t know anything about the extermination of the Jews.

Father is another important character. He is a commandant of Auschwitz and he works for Hitler (who actually came to dinner at his house in Poland). He is a cold man who is proud of his job of being a soldier and he doesn’t want to tell Bruno about it. He dresses as a soldier and he makes the people around him feel insecure, oppressed and passive. He is not actually considered the antagonist of the story because he loves his children and he doesn’t want them to know about his terrifying job.

Gretel, Bruno’s older sister, is considered the “Hapless case” because of her annoying behaviour and by her way of feeling better than her brother because she is older than him. Even if she is described as a spoilt girl, and she nearly always quarrels with Bruno, she has feelings and she actually loves her brother very much.

Some rhetorical devices used by Boyne are:

• Foreshadowing (already indicating a future event that is going to happen in the story) – Bruno has just moved house and his bedroom is facing a concentration camp and he doesn’t know where he is and why. The author will then explain everything throughout the story.
• Repetition (repeating the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer) – the author uses it to emphasise and remind some things. This also gives the idea of being a parable or a story for children.
• Third person limited POV – Boyne writes in third person, so out of the story, but, because Bruno is the main character, the writer concentrates and has more relevance on Bruno’s points of view.
• Cliff-hangers (keeps the reader with bated breath, so he wants to know what is going to happen in the next chapter) – at the end of chapter two, the author leaves suspense by not letting the reader understand what Bruno and his sister are going to see.

I personally think that this historical novel is a very good book for everyone to read because it is simple so even children can easily understand it.

Even if it uses a simple story, it expresses deep meanings.

So, I like Boyne’s book because I find it interesting and it hooks the reader straight away.

My favourite part is understanding the friendship between Shmuel and Bruno, I particularly like how Shmuel tries to hide the horrible truth from his friend not to make him feel upset and sorry for the people in the camp who are suffering also because of his father. It is as if the two boys are brothers thanks to their young but true friendship.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to every kind of audience because it talks about a sad truth through a simple and childlike story. It makes you reflect about the atrocities which happened in that period and why they shouldn’t happen again.

Tag: Book review , Holocaust

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THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

by John Boyne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006

Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.

After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.

The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006

ISBN: 0-385-75106-0

Page Count: 224

Publisher: David Fickling/Random

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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by John Boyne

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SEEN & HEARD

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

From the girl of fire and thorns series , vol. 1.

by Rae Carson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011

Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...

Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.

Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra , but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra —can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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WHAT THE MOON SAW

by Laura Resau ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006

When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)

ISBN: 0-385-73343-7

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Delacorte

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FAMILY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a historical fiction novel by John Boyne, invites the reader into the world of nine-year-old Bruno as he and his family move to a house near a Nazi concentration camp. The book starts off with Bruno discovering that he and his family are going to move so that his father, a Nazi, can work at a concentration camp. Reluctantly, Bruno travels to an old, small house in a neighborhood with no children. While exploring, Bruno finds a fence enclosing the concentration camp and meets a boy the same age as him named Shmuel who lives on the other side. Over the next year, they become best friends, realizing they have a lot in common. One day, Bruno decides to go with Shmuel inside the concentration camp where his father worked to see what it was like. Sadly, on that day, everyone in the camp was marched to a chamber where they were gassed, Bruno and Shmuel holding hands until the end.

The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, while sad, is a story worth reading. It inspires the reader to think about the Nazis and how terribly wrong they were. A bond is formed with both of the boys, demonstrating the heartbreak the Jews must have felt when their own friends and family were mercilessly killed. Fluffy and light at the beginning and heart-wrenching at the end, it is perfectly balanced. However, I would definitely not recommend this novel to anybody who does not like tragedies or anyone under the age of ten.

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Book Review

The boy in the striped pajamas.

Readability Age Range

• David Fickling Books, a division of Random House Children's Books
• Winner of various Irish children's book awards

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

The story is told from the viewpoint of a 9-year-old German boy named Bruno. Bruno is the privileged son of a Nazi commandant during World War II. Bruno comes home from school one afternoon to discover his belongings packed and set near the door. His family is preparing to relocate from Berlin to a place Bruno believes is called Out-With. In reality, his father will be in charge of the prison camp Auschwitz.

Bruno is not at all happy about the move, especially at leaving behind his three best friends. He is quite lonely and doesn’t understand why he can’t play with the children that he can see from his window at Out-With, children all dressed in the same striped pajamas. Then he realizes they aren’t all children, but also men of all ages, all wearing the same striped pajamas.

Bruno tries to entertain himself around the house since his parents don’t want him to do any exploring. He and his sister have lessons at the house instead of going to school. Eventually, Bruno decides to sneak out to explore the area. He meets a boy his age named Shmuel. Shmuel wears the striped pajamas and lives on the other side of the fence.

Shmuel and Bruno begin to meet every day. Bruno is thrilled to have a friend his own age, yet never fully grasps why Shmuel can’t play at his house or why Bruno can’t play with the other children in striped pajamas.

After a little more than a year and a bout with lice among the children, Bruno’s mother decides she can take no more of the isolation and plans to leave. Bruno and Shmuel make plans for one last day to go exploring where Shmuel lives. Bruno’s head is shaved because of the lice, so he will fit in when Shmuel brings him pajamas. Bruno meets Shmuel, changes into the pajamas and crawls under the fence to help Shmuel find his papa, who hasn’t been seen for days. As the two boys are searching, the guards round them up with many other adults into the middle of the camp.

Believing they were going on a march, Bruno and Shmuel stick close together inside the group and march into an airtight building with many other Jews. That was the last anyone ever heard of Bruno.

His mother eventually returned to Berlin with his sister. Bruno’s father was ordered to leave Out-With with other soldiers. He eventually figured out what had happened to Bruno.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems.

When Bruno asks his father about the people outside his window (the prisoners at Auschwitz), his father says that they aren’t people at all.

Authority Roles

Bruno is not allowed to question his parents or the decision to move to Out-With, but once, in an outburst, he tells his father how awful he thinks it is. His father tells Bruno he is very brave for speaking his mind, but that he is becoming insolent. He orders Bruno to stop talking about the move.

Everyone is respectful to the point of being frightened of the German authorities. Bruno knows he should respect Lieutenant Kotler, a young soldier, but he has a hard time since Lieutenant Kotler always calls him Little Man.

We learn that Bruno’s grandparents were against the promotion that led his father to be in charge of Out-With. When he accepted the position, it alienated Bruno’s family from his grandparents. Bruno had been close to them previously.

Profanity & Violence

Bruno tells Shmuel that his sister hits him sometimes. Bruno is inadvertently herded into a gas chamber with his friend, Shmuel, and is never heard from again.

Sexual Content

Bruno doesn’t understand it, and it is never said out right, but the book implies that Bruno’s mother has an affair with Lieutenant Kotler.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Lying: Shmuel is sent to Bruno’s house to do some work in preparation for a party. Bruno sneaks him some food. When questioned by Lieutenant Kotler if he has been eating, Shmuel denies he has been eating. When he finally confesses, he says that Bruno gave it to him. Bruno denies knowing Shmuel.

Secretive/deceptive behavior: Bruno goes to meet Shmuel every day for months after his parents specifically told him not to go near the fence or the camp, or to walk the direction that he went. Bruno sneaks Shmuel food every day.

Producers often use a book as a springboard for a movie idea or to earn a specific rating. Because of this, a movie may differ from the novel. To better understand how this book and the movie differ, compare the book review with Plugged In’s movie review for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas .

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Wednesday 7 April 2010

Review: the boy in the striped pajamas.

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BookBrowse Reviews The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Summary  |  Excerpt  |  Reading Guide  |  Reviews  |  Beyond the book  |  Read-Alikes  |  Genres & Themes  |  Author Bio

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

by John Boyne

Critics' Opinion:

Readers' Opinion:

• Historical Fiction
• Young Adults
• 1940s & '50s
• Jewish Authors
• War Related

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A World War II fable set in the Third Reich for teens, and with cross-over adult appeal.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas was published in the UK early in 2006, where it has received very positive reviews and much publicity, becoming one of those relatively rare books that crosses over from its intended market (teenagers) to be read widely by adults as well. It was published in hardcover in the USA in September 2006, and is just now out in paperback. Boyne tells the story of Bruno, a 9-year-old boy living in Berlin in 1943 (the book jacket description pegs it as 1942, but from various references in the book it seems more likely to be 1943) who finds his comfortable life upturned when his father is commanded by the "Fury" to take a new job at a place called "Out-With", where the lonely Bruno discovers a secret friend exactly his age - a boy called Shmuel who wears striped pajamas and lives on the other side of the fence. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is presented as a fable, flagging up front that one is expected to disengage ones normal sense of reality and accept the story as given, but in this instance, when dealing with such an emotive, well recorded and historically recent subject as the Holocaust, this is difficult to do. Everything hinges on the reader accepting Bruno's overwhelming naivety at face value. Is it really credible that Bruno, who lives and goes to school in Berlin and is the son of a senior SS officer, is oblivious to the war, and doesn't know who Hitler is, or what a Jew is - but in other respects is both observant and intelligent? I don't think so! When his family arrive at Aushwitz, Bruno and his 12-year-old-sister are conveniently the only children in the vicinity, other than those on the other side of the fence. This again stretches credibility because historical records show that about 6,000 SS officers were posted at Auschwitz, so it seems extremely unlikely that other children would not have been around. Then there is the issue of how Bruno could possibly have talked with his friend on the other side of the fence for months without, firstly, being seen, and secondly, ever comprehending that Shmuel is starving (he absentmindedly brings him food from time to time but usually ends up eating most of it on the way). Not to mention the inconvenient detail that by 1943 most young children arriving at the camps were gassed on arrival. On the other hand, Boyne hits a few powerful notes - such as Bruno's father's response to his question about the people inside the fence - "they're not people at all Bruno"; and his mother's comment that "we don't have the luxury of thinking". In short, as a fable, this is a powerful tale, and if you can read it as such all well and good (I can't); but as a vehicle for explaining the defining tragedy of the 20th century to young people, let alone adults, it falls short.

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Beyond the Book:    A Brief History of Auschwitz

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Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Author: John Boyne Publisher: David Fickling Books Publication date: 2006 Length: 215 pages Genre: Middle grade fiction Source: Purchased

Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Oh, I have such mixed feelings about this book!

Published in 2006, the book originally came with all sorts of disclaimers urging people not to give away the story, but to allow all readers to experience this book without knowing what it was about. All these years later, the subject matter is no longer a secret: This is Holocaust fiction, telling the story of two young boys who meet through the fence at Auschwitz, and despite their vastly different circumstances, form a deep friendship.

We see the story unfold through 9-year-old Bruno’s eyes. Bruno’s father is a rising Nazi officer, favored by Hitler himself (whose name Bruno hears as “the Fury” rather than “the Fuhrer”). The father is promoted to Kommandant of Auschwitz, and when we first meet Bruno, he’s expressing his unhappiness at having his happy life in Berlin uprooted, as the family will be moving because of his father’s new job.

Bruno is remarkabley clueless (more on that later). They arrive at their new home, which is nowhere near as grand as his house in Berlin. There’s nothing to do, and no one to play with. From the upstairs window, Bruno has a view of strange people on the other side of a barbed wire fence, all wearing striped pajamas. He wonders who these people are and what they’re doing, and even feels some envy at what appears to be a large group of people who are all together while he is so very alone.

As Bruno goes exploring along the forbidden fence, he finds a strange boy sitting near it on the other side, a skinny, gray-faced boy wearing the striped pajamas. They start to talk, and Bruno and Shmuel begin to get to know one another. Soon, Bruno considers Shmuel his best friend, although he’s frustrated that they can never play together, and somehow knows enough never to mention Shmuel in his house.

On its surface, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a moving story. And yet, I can understand why it was controversial upon its release.

For starters, there are some story issues that make the book hard to digest. Bruno is 9 years old and lived in the heart of Berlin, in a house led by a Nazi officer and where soldiers and other important people constantly come and go… and yet he appears to never have heard of Jews until his sister tells him, much later, that that’s who those people on the other side of the fence are.

And why are there so many children at Auschwitz, when we know that the majority would have been murdered upon arrival? How is Shmuel able to sneak away for hours, day after day, with no one noticing?

And is Bruno’s language mix-ups (such as “the Fury” and his belief that they live at “Out-With”) supposed to be cute? Frankly, he presents as much younger than nine.

In the book’s favor, the title page clearly calls this story “a fable”. No, these are not historical events. No, this depiction of life at Auschwitz isn’t meant to be historically accurate.

And yet, what’s concerning is that apparently this book is often used in schools as an introduction to Holocaust fiction. In fact, the back of my paperback edition includes a blurb from USA Today that calls this book “as memorable an introduction to the subject as The Diary of Anne Frank”.

Um, no. That comparison is absurd. And it disturbs me to think that there are students whose first encounter with the horrors of Auschwitz might be through this “fable”, where nothing seems all that terrible at first, where the nightmarish reality is presented as a distant curiosity, and where a reader who doesn’t know the factual history might not even get what was going on.

As a companion book, or a different lens on known events, sure, this would be effective. But as the sole introduction, it’s sorely lacking in context and facts, and I’m afraid that the melodrama and Bruno’s limited worldview are pretty close to sugar-coating.

Now, I’ll add that I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t comment on whether that version is more or less effective at conveying the full picture of Auschwitz. I actually picked up this book this week because my son saw the movie at school and came home to tell me how good it was. I think I should give it a chance, and see if I feel any differently about the story afterward.

I was eager to read this book not only because of my son’s recommendation, but because I just recently read my very first book by John Boyne, The Heart’s Invisible Furies , and thought it was brilliant.

As I was reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas , I just couldn’t stop and ended up reading it straight through. It was only once I’d closed the covers and stopped to think that the various elements above started to bother me.

I’d be really curious to hear from others who’ve read this book and see if our responses and reactions are at all aligned.

Meanwhile, I’ve been looking up reviews from when the book was published, and have found more than a few pieces that discuss why this book had such a mixed and controversial response:

(Note: Some of these links may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution!)

Review – New York Times Review – Jewish Book Council Analysis – Holocaust Exhibition & Learning Centre Movie review – Time Magazine Book Review – Aish.com

8 thoughts on “ Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne ”

Hi Lisa, I haven’t read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but I’ve heard a lot about it. Thanks for your honest review. I’m not sure I’d pick this up. I think I’d have trouble with how unrealistic Bruno’s character is. I like how you’ve added links to other reviews – I’ve been doing that too, especially with books I didn’t like. Hope you are doing well!

Thanks, Barbara! When I have a mixed or negative reaction to a book that people seem to talk a lot about, I do find it helpful to look up other resources and see if maybe I missed something, or if there are other viewpoints that might convince me to expand my thinking.

I agree that this shouldn’t be confused with fact, and certainly shouldn’t be taught as such, though I do think it is an easier tale for children to relate to than Ann Franks Diary in many ways. With respect I do disagree with your view on Bruno. This was a period when children of the upper class had very little to do with their parents.and when at home likely never ventured out of the attic nursery/schoolroom of their Berlin home except under the care of a nanny or tutor except to dutifully submit to a kiss goodnight. Military discussions would take place behind locked and closed study doors anyway He wouldn’t have access to any media, and it’s unlikely any one would have explained the war to him, children of his age were not informed of or included in such matters. it’s also entirely possible he never witnessed any of the violence or hate directed at Jews since any travel outside the home would be in a car and to approved places. So in my opinion his naivety really isn’t a stretch, especially when you factor in a child’s ability to normalise their circumstances, even when it evidently isn’t.

Thanks, I appreciate your perspective! I get what you’re saying about Bruno and being a sheltered child at the time, but Bruno does specifically talk about being out and about in the city, being on the crowded streets with his friends, what his friends’ parents do for a living, etc — so surely he must have at least encountered some hint of the reality of his times?

I am glad I read this review. I do think historical fiction for the Holocaust has its place but am glad I didn’t pick this one up. I heard people rave about this but given your description I would not be one of them. The main character sounds too naive and the mixed up words too trite. The other book that I hear has lots of interest for schools is number the stars. Have ye read that one? x The Captain

PS. Thank you for including the link to the Analysis – Holocaust Exhibition & Learning Centre. They are a fantastic resource that I have used before like for the tattooist of Auschwitz. What I read there spoiled the ending and I am glad. I am now whole-heartedly not for this book being taught in schools when there are better choices out there. x The Captain

Oops, so sorry for the spoiler! Maybe I should add some warning language above the links. I hadn’t come across this resource before, but I’m glad to know about it now! And I’m glad you mentioned The Tattooist of Auschwitz — I’ll be reading that one (finally) with my book group later this spring, and it’s good to know there are good online resources to check out.

Regarding the ending (spoilers!), a piece that’s been bothering me after the fact is that somehow Bruno’s death end up being the tragic part, which almost minimizes all the other countless deaths happening at the same time. The fact that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time is awful, but is his fate any more awful than that of Shmuel and all the other people being murdered? I don’t know… having a hard time with sorting all this out, clearly.

I have read Number the Stars, many years ago, and while the plot is fuzzy for me at this point, I do remember thinking that it was excellent! I think one of the differences is that Number the Stars is much more fact-based, showing the experiences of a girl during this time while clearly placing it in the context of what was happening. In fact, now that you’ve reminded me of it, I think I need to do a re-read!

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Review by A.O. Scott

• Nov. 12, 2006

Rather than providing information about the book’s content, the flap copy for John Boyne’s new novel — his first for younger readers — announces that “we think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.” If obeying the wishes of book publishers is important to you, then you probably should not continue reading this review.

But the refusal to give any hint about what happens in “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” is more than a gambit to pique the curiosity of browsers in bookstores. Especially in its early chapters, the book itself is hesitant, you might even say coy, in revealing its subject. Which happens to be — last warning! turn the page now if you don’t want to know! — the Holocaust. Boyne’s reluctance to say as much can certainly be defended, not least on the grounds that the characters in a story about the Holocaust are themselves most likely unaware of the scale and historical importance of their experiences. To recreate those experiences faithfully might require undoing some of the readers’ preconceptions.

At the same time, though, Boyne depends on those preconceptions — on the jolt of recognition that occurs when what had seemed to be an ordinary story about a child at odds with his family and confused by his surroundings turns out to be something much more terrible and significant. A young reader who knows little or nothing about the mass murder of European Jews by the Nazis will not know much more after reading “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” while one who has read other books on the topic — Jerry Spinelli’s “Milkweed,” say, or Anne Frank’s diary — may be irritated by the book’s evasions and euphemisms.

There is something awkward about the way Boyne manages to disguise, and then to disclose, the historical context. His protagonist is Bruno, a 9-year-old whose family moves abruptly from a big house in Berlin to a desolate, faraway place whose name Bruno hears as “Out-With.” Bruno’s father, strict and remote but not without a flicker of paternal tenderness, has been promoted to commandant.

“Out-With” is one of several translinguistic malapropisms meant to show the boy’s unworldliness: he refers frequently to a personage called “the Fury,” who once came to dinner. Readers who know that Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp and that Hitler was called the Führer will be able to recognize Bruno’s solecisms. Some may also note that there is something illogical about them, since Bruno’s native language is presumably German, in which the portentous puns would make no sense, not English, in which they do. The boy’s general cluelessness also seems a bit overdone, even for a protected child living in a society ruled by deceit and denial; his interpretations of the world around him often seem more those of a 6- or 7-year-old than a privately tutored 9-year-old. (“I think Poland is in Denmark,” he speculates at one point.)

Bruno’s innocence, in any case, is gradually eroded, though it never entirely wears away. His older sister, Gretel, occasionally tries to explain matters to him — as far as she understands — but he is mostly left to his own devices when it comes to figuring out, for example, why some people in Out-With live inside a barbed-wire fence. They’re Jews, Gretel explains, and he wonders what the difference is:

“ ‘I know we’re not,’ said Bruno in frustration. ‘I’m asking you, if we’re not Jews, what are we instead?’

“ ‘We’re the opposite,’ said Gretel, answering quickly and sounding a lot more satisfied with this answer. ‘Yes, that’s it. We’re the opposite.’

“ ‘All right,’ said Bruno, pleased that he had it settled in his head at last. ‘And the Opposite live on this side of the fence and the Jews live on that.’ ”

The spur to Bruno’s curiosity is his friendship with Shmuel, the title character and a Jewish inmate of the camp Bruno’s father commands. Their conversations across the fence demonstrate both Bruno’s guilelessness and his natural decency (he has an instinctive dislike for the Führer, for instance), as well as the drastic difference in their circumstances, which Shmuel recognizes more readily than his companion. Neither boy, however, is able to grasp the full enormity of what is happening around them and to them.

Will the reader? Can the reader? Boyne seems driven at once by an impulse to make curious middle-grade readers face the horror of Auschwitz and a desire to protect them from its full impact. He risks turning a chronicle of atrocity into a tear-jerker, as Roberto Benigni did in “Life Is Beautiful.” Like that film, this novel uses a child’s perception — tinged with wonder and never entirely alive to the reality of evil — as a way of manipulating the emotional tone. When things threaten to become too brutal (as, for example, when a kindly older camp inmate is beaten in Bruno’s home), he gently averts our eyes. Similarly, he floats implications of adult and adolescent sexuality between the lines, where we can see them even if Bruno can’t.

The book’s tone — a kind of wide-eyed deadpan — is that of a parable or a fairy tale. And Boyne ends the narrative on a note of reassurance that is clearly meant to be seen through: “Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.” The author’s note that follows spells out the lesson that “fences such as the one at the heart of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ still exist; it is unlikely that they will ever fully disappear.” As hard as it is to argue with this claim, it is also hard to accept it entirely. One of the things that makes the horrors of history so horrible — and so difficult to think or read about — is that they can’t really be made equivalent to one another or turned into fables. To mold the Holocaust into an allegory, as Boyne does here with perfectly benign intent, is to step away from its reality.

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The Boy in the Striped Pajams (Review)

Favorite Quote: \\\"When you nurture a stray do it will respect you, that is the main difference between a man and a dog.\\\"

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Book Report) “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”, written by John Boyne, resolves around a nine year old boy named Bruno. He is a very curious and innocent child who also has an older sister named Gretel; whom he thinks of as a “hopeless case”. Throughout the story readers noticed that Bruno doesn’t know many things that are happening in Germany at this time; such as Nazis, the persecution of Jews, or the dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler. Therefore, as the story progresses, readers see that Bruno asks people many personal questions about their past. I believe that John Boyne purposefully created Bruno in such a manner so that people who read this novel can better understand how life was in the late 1930s from the perspective of Jews and Germans. In the beginning of the story Bruno starts his adventure in a large house in Berlin, Germany. However, that soon changes when he comes home to find his maid packing his belongings. His initial reaction was shock and he told his maid to stop what she was doing. Thankfully, his mother walked in to resolve the matter and explained to Bruno that they would be moving. She didn’t give him many details at first but told him that due to a promotion that his father got they are to be relocated to a new house, away from Berlin. Bruno still didn’t understand why they had to move and when they stepped into a two-storey house, with no best friends for life and a lack of banisters to slide on, he was greatly depressed. Bruno did not know anything about his new surroundings other than that he would be staying there for the “foreseeable-future”. Also, there was a fence that surrounded a small “farm”. In this farm there were many “non-friendly looking people” as Bruno put it; who wore striped pajamas. It had been a couple days after their arrival in out-with and Bruno was not finding the place any more enjoyable. He was only lazing around staring at the ceiling when his maid Maria walked into his room. In this part of the story readers get to see how some Jews acted towards Germans. Also, we get a better picture of Bruno’s personality and how he likes to speak his mind. Bruno decided to unfold all his frustration on Maria and complain to her how boring this new place was. He hated the house and couldn’t understand why his “stupid” father forced them all to move here. Bruno also expected Maria to agree with him but instead she told Bruno, “There are many things which your father has done”, she said. “Many things of which you should be proud. If it wasn’t for your father, where would I be now after all?” This part of the book is one of my favourites. It shows how not all Jews despised the Germans; as we would have thought. This scene may be one of the most important because of two reasons. The first is that it gives readers the first perspective of a Jew toward a German. The second is that Maria’s perspective is controversial to our thoughts of the interaction between Jews and Germans-it makes readers think more of life back in the 30s-40s. Be that as it may, it wasn’t as if all Jews and Germans respected each other. The fact of the matter is that most did not. Before Bruno and Maria were able to finish their conversation Gretel interrupted them and when she saw them talking she was stunned. It was as if talking to a maid was inhumane. Gretel rudely ordered Maria to run her bath and felt like the Jewish maid should do whatever she is told. This is extremely significant to the book because it shows that Gretel has been greatly influenced by the adults; on how they treat Jews. (This influence progresses as the story goes on.) This was how things were back in those days; kids saw how adults acted towards Jews so they did the same and as they get older they usually develop the same mind set as their elders. Many weeks went by since Bruno’s initial appearance at out-with. Nothing has been changing even though he’s been here for more than a month. Bruno misses many things of Berlin including his three best friends for life. One day in his room, Bruno became very curious to what was on the outside of his house. He realized that even though he had been here for so long he has never actually been outside. Today that would come to an end. His mother and father have told Bruno many times to not go near the fence surrounding the camp but frustration and curiosity overpowered his parents’ orders. Bruno walked through a forest and along the fence of the camp. He continued advancing along the fence until he saw a boy that looked to be around his age. The first thing that came to Bruno was excitement; after a month of loneliness he has finally found a child his age with whom he could speak with. The young boy lived on the other side of the fence in the same striped pajamas that Bruno had seen them wear. In this scene we truly see Bruno’s innocence. The boy behind the fence whom was named Shmuel explained to Bruno his past and how he came to live behind the fence. Even so, Bruno didn’t understand any of it. When Shmuel was finished with his story he told Bruno, “Mama was taken away from us, and Papa and Josef and I were put into the huts over there and that’s where we have been ever since”. Despite that Bruno couldn’t understand why Shmuel looked so sad. He believed that Shmuel was in the same position as him because they were both forced to live in this place. It’s only until much later that Bruno comes to understand the conflicts that are surrounding him. By now it was obvious to Bruno that they would be staying here longer than the “foreseeable-future”. Bruno wasn’t as lonely anymore though because he now had Shmuel to speak with. They talk to each other every day and we learn more about Shmuel and get a greater understanding of the Jews behind the fence. Shmuel explains to Bruno that the soldiers abuse them every day and that he’s scared of them. Bruno wants Shmuel to know that his father is not like the rest of the soldiers. Still, Shmuel replies, “There are no good soldiers”. It’s fairly obvious that a majority if not all the soldiers despised Jewish people. For people who serve under Hitler it was a must. Lieutenant Kotler was no exception to this. Kotler is a soldier who worked for Bruno’s father; the commandment. For tonight he was invited to dinner with the family. Throughout the story it is obvious to readers that many Germans didn’t like Jews and John Boyne uses this scene to show how intense the abuse against Jews was during this time. At the dinner table we learn about Kotler’s past; his father left him several years ago to teach at a university in Switzerland. Bruno’s dad thought it was strange for Kotler’s father to leave at Germany’s greatest glory. Then he said to Lieutenant Kotler, “One hears tales of men like this from time to time. Curious fellows, I imagine. Disturbed, some of them. Traitors, others. Cowards too” After the commandment said this it was easy to see how uncomfortable the young soldier was. Then it made me think; that perhaps the soldiers wanted people who they could throw their anger at. They wanted to blame the Jewish people for all their embarrassments and problems during the Great Depression. I still can’t agree with the way they treated Jews but I can at least understand why they did it because we all want to blame someone else for our own problems. Regardless, what Lieutenant Kotler did to the butler after the discussion was inexcusable. The Butler was very old and during dinner Bruno noticed how weak and tired he looked. When butler Pavel poured the lieutenant wine it spilled all over his lap. Kotler grew furious and “no one…stepped in to stop him doing what he did next, even though none of them could watch. Even though it made Bruno cry and Gretel grow Pale”. This week Bruno and his mother were planning for his father’s birthday. Even though his dad did not want a big fuss, he and his mother wished to make it as memorable as possible. On this particular day Bruno chooses to take a break and read one of his favourite adventure books. When he steps into the kitchen he sees Shmuel cleaning the wine glasses for the party. Both the boys were very surprised but thrilled at the same time. Shmuel told Bruno how Lieutenant Kotler brought him in because they needed someone with tiny fingers. When Bruno looked closer at Shmuel he could see that his friend was looking worse than when he last saw him. His skin was grey and you were able to see the veins through his hands. Bruno was beginning to understand that out-with could not have been a good place if it made his friend look like this. Not wanting to stare any longer Bruno goes to the fridge and makes himself a sandwich, then offers Shmuel a slice. However, Shmuel knew that if he was caught eating he would be in serious trouble so he refused Bruno’s offer. Even though he was starving he feared what Kotler would do to him if he was caught. Nevertheless, Bruno insisted and after minutes of persuasion Shmuel gave in. This was a huge mistake because after he finishes Kotler comes in and finds out that he had recently eaten. Kotler accuses him of stealing and threatens him, but when Shmuel says that the food was given to him by Bruno, Kotler diverts his anger. “Have you been talking to the prisoners? Tell me Bruno!” shouted Kotler, his face growing red. “I’ve never spoken to him” said Bruno. “I’ve never seen him before in my life. I don’t know him.” Bruno is only a child, so in this situation he must have been really scared because Kotler was yelling at him. What he did was still wrong but he is only 9 years old so, it’s understandable. When I read this it gave me a better understanding of the holocaust. If a soldier thought that someone had any affiliation with a Jew they would do anything to get the truth out; even if it was a child. Then when I read further on and found out that Kotler had beaten Shmuel up it made me feel sad. The wrath of soldiers would not cease for a weak and hungry nine year old boy. Shmuel had a black eye and many bruising’s on his face and still, he forgave Bruno. This made me wonder; was it really possible for Jews to have such a friendship with a German? Today is Bruno’s last day at out-with. A few weeks ago, his mother had persuaded his father to allow them to move back home in Berlin. They both agreed that out-with was not a safe place for children to grow up in. Ironically, Bruno did not want to go home. He had been having so much fun with Shmuel that he would rather stay, but his father would not allow it. When he travelled to the fence to tell Shmuel the bad news, Shmuel had news of his own. His father had gone with a group of men and soldiers some days ago and no one has seen them since. Bruno felt sad for his friend so, he offered his assistance in the search for his dad. This was also a good way to make it up to Shmuel for when he had betrayed him and as a bonus he could finally see how things were on the other side of the fence. It was going to be an exploration. This brings us back to today. Bruno put on his boots and raced to the camp. There he met Shmuel with the disguises. Bruno couldn’t just waltz into the camp so; Shmuel had taken striped pajamas from storage for his friend to wear. Bruno slipped on his new clothes and crawled under the fence. When Bruno looks around the area that his friend lives in he was shocked. It was nothing like he had thought it would be. There were no adults on rocking chairs, no kids playing together in groups and certainly no cafés or stalls. In this chapter Bruno at last understand that out-with is not the fun land he had always thought. In Auschwitz, people were sad, and everyone was looking at the ground. The soldiers had not only killed Jews they demoralized them. In these concentration camps the Jews tried to continue their culture but it was difficult. Bruno became scared and wanted to go home but he had promised Shmuel to help find his father and he didn’t want to abandon his friend a second time. They trudged on searching for Shmuel’s father but when they were about to give up a whistle blew. The soldiers herded all the Jews into a group for a march. Bruno didn’t know what was going on and everyone was panicking with the two boys’ right in the middle of it. After a while they were lead into a shelter that seemed to be air tight. By this time people were screaming and yelling; Bruno tried to calm them down saying that his father was in charge so whatever is going on it could not be bad. Then the lights shut off and Bruno heard a noise. He held Shmuel’s hand and took his last breath. *** This book was very dramatic and I felt that it showed a perfect depiction of the holocaust. It was clear that John Boyne had done research before he began working on this book and it shows trough his success. The story wasn’t hard to believe. It really hurts that Nazis did such terrible things to people just because of their ethnic background. I had learned a lot of things in history before I started reading this book so I knew what to expect. Even so, this book may be fiction but it hurts to know that it was based on reality. I think that Mr. Boyne made this novel as unpredictable as possible by putting in twists and turns for Bruno’s relationship with Shmuel. The most surprising part of the story for me was when I realised that Bruno’s father was working for Hitler; then everything that happened before made perfect sense. What I really liked about this book are Bruno’s fights with Gretel. I find it really funny how they interact with each other and I think the funniest thing Bruno said was, “You’ll have to forgive my sister, Lieutenant Kotler,” he added politely, “but she’s a Hopeless Case. There’s very little we can do for her. The doctors say that she has gone past the point of help.” John Boyne was able to put serious and sad events in his book while still keeping a light atmosphere; making the book a good read for all ages. Nevertheless, my only problems with this book are the setting and the protagonist. I felt that the book could have been more interesting if we saw Bruno going to different locations and meeting different people; Jews and Germans. Also, Bruno stayed the same throughout the book. From beginning to end, he was still innocent and childish. As a main character John Boyne should have written him more dynamic. Meaning, Bruno would change psychologically as the story progresses. Besides those two problems, the detail and atmosphere of the book made it very enjoyable. If I were to rate it I would give “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” 4/5 stars.

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Mark Herman's "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" depends for its powerful impact on why, and when, it transfers the film's point of view. For almost all of the way, we see events through the eyes of a bright, plucky 8-year-old. Then we begin to look out through the eyes of his parents. Why and when that transfer takes place gathers all of the film's tightly wound tensions and savagely uncoils them. It is not what happens to the boy, which I will not tell you. It is -- all that happens. All of it, before and after.

Bruno ( Asa Butterfield ) is a boy growing up in a comfy household in Berlin, circa 1940. His dad ( David Thewlis ) goes off to the office every day. He's a Nazi official. Bruno doesn't think about that much, but he's impressed by his ground-level view of his father's stature. One day Bruno gets the unwelcome news that his dad has a new job, and they will all be moving to the country.

It'll be a farm, his parents reassure him. Lots of fun. Bruno doesn't want to leave his playmates and his much-loved home. His grandma ( Sheila Hancock ) doesn't approve of the move either. There seems to be a lot she doesn't approve of, but children are made uneasy by family tension and try to evade it.

There's a big house in the country, surrounded by high walls. It looks stark and modern to be a farmhouse. Army officials come and go. They fill rooms with smoke as they debate policy and procedures. Bruno can see the farm fields from his bedroom window. He asks his parents why the farmers are wearing striped pajamas. They give him one of those evasive answers that only drives a smart kid to find out for himself.

At the farm, behind barbed wire, he meets a boy about his age. They make friends. They visit as often as they can. The other boy doesn't understand what's going on any more than Bruno does. Their stories were told in a 2007 young adult's novel of the same name by John Boyne, which became a best seller. I learn the novel tells more about what the child thinks he hears and knows, but the film is implacable in showing where his curiosity leads him.

Other than what "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is about, it almost seems to be an orderly story of those British who always know how to speak and behave. Those British? Yes, the actors speak with crisp British accents, which I think is actually more effective than having them speaking with German accents, or in subtitles. It dramatizes the way the German professional class internalized Hitler's rule and treated it as business as usual. Charts, graphs, titles, positions, uniforms, promotions, performance evaluations.

How can ordinary professional people proceed in this orderly routine when their business is evil? Easier than we think, I believe. I still obsess about those few Enron executives who knew the entire company was a Ponzi scheme. I can't forget the Oregon railroader who had his pension stolen. The laughter of Enron soldiers who joked about killing grandmothers with their phony California "energy crisis." Whenever loyalty to the enterprise becomes more important than simple morality, you will find evil functioning smoothly.

There has not again been evil on the scale of 1939-1945. But there has been smaller-scale genocide. Mass murder. Wars generated by lies and propaganda. The Wall Street crash stripped people of their savings, their pensions, their homes, their jobs, their hopes of providing for their families. It happened because a bureaucracy and its status symbols became more important than what it was allegedly doing.

Have I left my subject? I don't think so. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is not only about Germany during the war, although the story it tells is heartbreaking in more than one way. It is about a value system that survives like a virus. Do I think the people responsible for our economic crisis were Nazis? Certainly not. But instead of collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in rewards for denying to themselves what they were doing, I wish they had been forced to flee to Paraguay in submarines.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material involving the Holocaust

David Thewlis as Father

Sheila Hancock as Grandma

Vera Farmiga as Mother

Jim Norton as Herr Liszt

Rupert Friend as Lt. Kotler

Richard Johnson as Grandpa

Jack Scanlon as Shmuel

Asa Butterfield as Bruno

Amber Beattie as Gretel

Cara Horgan as Maria

David Hayman as Pavel

Written and directed by

• Mark Herman

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