Boy in the striped pajamas

Signifigance of a child narrator

Bruno is a privilaged nine year old boy who is naive when it comes to anything regarding war.

Shmuel is a nine year old Jewish boy from Poland who was sent to Auschwitz prison camp.

Gretel is Bruno's twelve year old sister who acts as a know-it-all to Bruno. Bruno calls her a "hopeless case" throughout the book.

Bruno's father is a Nazi solider who is sent to Poland to work at Aushwitz. Bruno's mother is a passive character who does not seem to believe in Natzism.

Having a child narrating such an intense part of history, allowed for the audience to know what was going on through the eyes of naive children.

It is unique having a childs perspective. As readers we know what is going on, and unlike most Holocaust literature, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not extremely descriptive of the horrors occuring. It is almost sugar-coated in a way that makes it easier to read.

Main Characters

Setting

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes place in Poland during World War II. Bruno and his family live on the border of the Jewish concentration camp, Auschwitz, or what Bruno calls "Out-With."

Concentration camps, like Auschwitz, were containment camps for Jewish people during World War II. Under the reign of Hitler, Jewish people were sentenced to death at these camps. Throughout the book, Bruno struggles to learn why Jewish people and Germans were so different. He even asks his maid if he is Jewish. Bruno also doesn't understand why Shmuel can't leave Auschwitz to come out and play. The horrors that were happening inside of Auschwitz were unknown to Bruno making this story even more powerful.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas