Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay

The novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is a cautionary tale told through the eyes of nine year old Bruno. It is a story about an innocent friendship between two boys, one is the son of the commandant of a concentration camp in Poland and the other is a jew. The only thing between them is a fence that separates, but eventually interweaves their lives. it demonstrates how even in the most dreary and dark circumstances nothing stands in the way of true friendship and human kindness. Even though this novel is fictional, it is based on a very real and tragic events. Auschwitz concentration camp located in Poland during the holocaust is where the events of the story unfold. Over 6 million jews were murdered by the Germans, 1.1 million at Auschwitz alone. Hitler displayed typical signs of prejudice and had a stereotypical view that all Jews were untrustworthy and disloyal. Jews were forced to wear an armband with the star of David on it and carry identification papers with them at all times. They were starved and treated extremely cruelly. "Bruno looked down at Shmuel's hand, which looked like the hand of a pretend skeleton." Hitler used propaganda to brainwash people into believing that Germany was the greatest country and the Jews did not belong to it. Heir Liszt, Gretel and Bruno's tudor pushes the children to learn about Germany's history and greatness and the insignificance of the Jews. "Bruno, if you ever found a nice Jew, you would be the greatest explorer in the world." Bruno's father had been brainwashed by Hitler and was made to believe that his job as commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp was important work for the country, wearing a Nazi uniform and giving orders makes him feel powerful and important. "If you wear the right outfit, you feel like the person you're pretending to be" Many acts of kindness and compassion are present regardless of the terrible circumstances. Jews and Germans were raised to be enemies, but this didn't mean that was