The book Boy in striped pyjamas written by John Boyen, is such a life changing, eye opening novel. The story is situated in WW2, when many, many jews were tortuterd by Hitler and sent off to concentration camps. A nine year old boy called Bruno is separated from his friends where he lived in Berlin. Later on, Bruno meets a young boy similar age named Shmuel. However, Shmeul shouldn’t be talking to Bruno because he is living in a concentration camp and could get into danger. Despite not being allowed to talk to Bruno, Shmeul becomes bestfriends with him.
The most relevant theme in the novel is friendship. When Bruno and Shmuel first meet through the fence, they instantly connect and have a special bond between them both. Because of World War II happening, they are both feeling lonely. Building the strong friendship between them, helps them to feel more happy. Shmuel works for Bruno’s farther as a servant in their house. The more time that Shmuel and Bruno spend together, the stronger the bond becomes between the two boys. Bruno risks his life by following Shmuel into the concentration camp where they then get locked into a gas chamber and both die.
This novel helped me to understand how hard it would have been for the Jews during the time of the World War and how badly they got treated. It shows that the natzi’s were not just horrible but they were also very, very controlling. It shows how society can be so horrible and how some people don’t treat others with the same amount of respect as other people receive. It helped me to realise that all people should be treated with the same amount of respect no matter their race or religion. It shows that sometimes when people do horrible things it can backfire on them and make them realise they made a horrible decision they will regret for eternity. For example, when Burno’s farther realises that his own son got locked into the gas chambers and died, it made him realise what such a big mistake he had made. His grieve and loss haunted overhim for so long.
The nazi’s believed that they were the best people and they could take advantage of any people they didn’t like for example, the Jews. Over 6 million Jews were committed by the nazis.
I would recommend this book as it is truly eye-opening and relates to a major part of history and how certain people got treated due to their race or religion. People need to be aware of the fact that in the past, days weren’t always happy. So many horrible experiences occurred and happened to the Jews.
1 Comment
Add Yours →Hi Jemma
-Low achieved for this entry.
Your third paragraph is quite strong and an example of how you can explore your responses to the text. There are enough moments in here to just scrape through.
Cheerio
T