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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Bruno a nine year old boy at the time of the war, stands completely oblivious to the horrific goings-on of the war that continue to take place around him, even with his father being a Nazi commandant. The title of the book is evidence to this as Bruno perceives their concentration camp uniforms as "striped pyjamas". Deeper into the book we discover Bruno's interpretation of many Nazi words which gives us further evidence as he is unable to pronounce these important names "the Fury," (the Furher) and "Out-With" (Auschwitz). Bruno and Shmuel, his young Jewish friend share many similarities but what is most apparent is their naivety to the position they are in. Bruno unaware that his father is a Nazi commandant and that his home is in walking distance of Auschwitz. Shmuel, imprisoned in the camp doesn't seem to fully register the severity of his situation. So when his father goes missing he fails to grasp that he has been taken to the gas chambers .

During the book loneliness is also encountered as Bruno leaves his beloved home in Berlin to an unfamiliar home on the outskirts of Poland. 'He decided that he needed to find some way to entertain himself' this quote taken from the book implies Bruno's loneliness, since he had nothing to entertain himself with or even someone talk too. 'Bruno thought that no one ever laughed here; that there was nothing to laugh at and nothing to be happy about.' This quote reinforces the one before as it shows that when Bruno was back in Berlin he used to be happy all the time with his friends Karl, Daniel and Martin, but since he moved to Out-With Bruno was not laughing or happy because he was lonely and had no one to talk or no one to play with at Out-With. Furthermore 'Bruno started thinking all the things he liked to do at home that he hadn't been able to do since he had come to Out-With.' This piece of text taken from the book shows once more that the thought of Bruno doing something that he used to do back in Berlin was just
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