Analysis Of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas By Elie Wiesel

Humans losing their basic rights of freedom leads to delusion and them making questionable decisions. John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Elie Wiesel’s Night both take place during the Jewish holocaust. Both of the authors use multiple literary devices to deliver their respectives ideas about oppression. Boyne and Wiesel both use situational irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing to convey their message that oppression can lead to madness.t
John Boyne uses situational irony relating to Bruno's and Shmuel’s maltreatment to display their lack of comprehension of the Holocaust. Bruno and Shmuel communicate verbally through the fence for most of the book. At one point, Bruno tells Shmuel that he is lucky that he is able to live with all
The fence represents more than a physical separation. The fence is used to display the disconnect between Bruno and Shmuel. This barrier is used to display the fact that the Jews are trapped in the fence and are being treated inhumanely. This inhumanity is shown through that the fence is electric, a typical construction for an animal. While the fence is a physical divider, the fence is also an emotional barrier. Elie Wiesel utilizes symbolism in a similar way to signify his oppression during the Holocaust. Wiesel uses the nighttime to depict the terrors that arrive with the Jews lack of freedom. Night was an awful time during the Holocaust because of the fear of uncertainty. Wiesel wrote about his first night, “Never shall I forget that night” (Wiesel 34). This fear derives from the abuse that the Jews faced everyday by the Nazis. Symbolism plays a major role in instilling fear in characters from both of these stories. Boyne and Wiesel utilize symbolism so that the reader can see examples of their character’s
When Bruno first looks out his window and lays his eyes on the concentration camp he, “feels very cold and unsafe” (Boyne 20). Bruno’s thoughts foreshadows the idea that Bruno is not safe near the concentration camp. At the end of the story, Bruno digs a hole to attempt to find Shmuel’s father, but instead ends up being placed in a gas chamber. Boyne foreshadows the ending, so that we realize how delusional the concentration camps have made people. The fact the Shmuel thought that Bruno venturing into the camp would be a good idea is astounding and highly questionable. Wiesel uses foreshadow to show the insanity that the Holocaust has caused. Madame Schacter claims to see a fire while the Jews are traveling on the cattle car. Schacter yells, “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!” (Wiesel 22). This vision represents the delusion that the Holocaust caused for the Jewish people. Schacter’s vision foreshadows the burning of Jews in the crematorium. Wiesel mentions her vision to show the reader that the abuse she faced led her to her imagining a fire. Boyne and Wiesel both use foreshadowing of oppression to display the insanity that the Holocaust