The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
John Boyne
Summary:
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the tale of a surprising yet tender friendship set on both sides of the fence in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Readers understand the story through the naïve perceptions of Bruno, a nine-year old who moves to a place he calls Out-With when a man he refers to as the Fury offers his father a job as Commandant of the camp. Bruno is homesick for friends and family in Germany after moving to Poland where he laments his small house and the strange fence in the backyard that separates him from the people who wear striped pyjamas each day. This all changes when Bruno befriends Shmuel, a Jewish boy from the other side of the fence who Bruno does not see as very different from himself. When Bruno decides to explore further and join Shmuel on the other side of the fence, it becomes clear that Bruno cannot comprehend the horrors of the world in which he lives.
The novel explores themes of friendship, bravery, humanity and innocence often through exploring their opposites, and Boyne uses Bruno’s innocence as a foil to expose the hatred and injustices of the Holocaust. Bruno’s limited world view and egotism however, create a minimal picture of the circumstances making some historical knowledge necessary to fully grasp the book’s meaning.
What the judges said:
When father’s work takes the family to Out-With, Bruno’s secure, agreeable life in wartime Berlin is turned upside down. In Out-With Bruno, aged nine, meets Herr Liszt, and later, Shmuel, a boy in striped pyjamas. Bruno is confident that he can help Shmuel find his father. This haunting, unsettling tale tells how the boys join hands and become friends - for life.
About the Author:
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is John Boyne’s first children’s book although he has written four adult novels. A Dublin resident, Boyne studied English as Trinity College Dublin where he received the Curtis Brown prize.
Boyne has said that he believes the only way he could write about the Holocaust respectfully was through the eyes of a child. He does so masterfully in this novel, demonstrating how Bruno and Schmuel maintain the innocence of their childhood in spite of what is happening around them. Boyne acknowledges that the only people who can truly comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust are those who lives through it. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas gives a voice to the victims, especially the millions of innocent children who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
Vocabulary List
appallingly ______
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despair (p. 104) ______
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catastrophe (p. 142) ______
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greengrocer (p. 19) ______
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inconsolable (p. 178) ______
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incumbent ______
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insolent (p. 51) ______
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mercilessly ______
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misshapen (p. 184) ______
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peckish ______
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persuaded ______
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sarcastic ______
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sinister (p. 98) ______
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traitors ______
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tubercular ______
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AFTER READING:
Questions:
Think about the characters:
1. What adjectives would you use to describe Bruno? Do you like him? Would you want to be his friend? Are there times when he disappoints you? Did he ever impress you?
2. Do you think Bruno changes during the book?
3. How does Bruno’s limited understanding of the circumstances surrounding him change the way you understand them?
4. Were you surprised by what you learned about Pavel’s past in chapter seven? How does that make you see the circumstances differently?
5. Compare and contrast Bruno’s father and Pavel. Do they have similarities? What are their differences? Does Pavel ever act like a father? Does Bruno’s father ever not act like one?
6. What do Bruno and Shmuel have in common? What are their differences?
Think about the story:
7. In Chapter 10, Bruno meets Shmuel. If you were Bruno would you have talked to him? Why or why not?
8. Explain the relationship between Gretel and Bruno. In chapter 14, would you have trusted Gretel enough to tell her about Shmuel? What might have happened if Bruno had told her?
9. In Chapter 15, Bruno denies that Shmuel is his friend. Why do you think he did this? Would you have done something different? Shmuel forgives Bruno. Would you have forgiven him? Why or why not?
10. Bravery is one of the themes of the novel. Bruno thinks soldiers and explorers are brave. Bruno says he feels like a coward when he denies Shmuel is his friend. What do you think bravery is? What characters show bravery in the novel? Which characters aren’t brave?
11. Why do you think of the end of the book? Did it surprise you? What did you expect to happen?
12. In the end, the author says, “Of course, this all happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age.” Do you think that’s true? Why or why not? Why do you think the author ended the book this way?
Activities:
Chose any four of the topics below and complete them in your English book.
1. Research Auschwitz. Draw a Venn diagram and use it to compare and contrast what you read about Auschwitz with Bruno and Shmuel’s descriptions of it in the novel.
2. Research the Holocaust. Make a time line of important events during the Holocaust. When do you think Bruno’s story might have taken place?
3. This story is told through Bruno’s view of the world. Pick a part of the story to tell from the point of view of Bruno’s mother, Gretel, or Shmuel. Consider how the other character would feel and react in those circumstances and what that character might think of Bruno.
4. Bruno tells many stories about his Grandmother and even sends her a letter. Imagine you are Bruno’s grandmother and received his letter. Write a letter back to Bruno.
5. This book has no illustrations. Pick the scene that you think is most important and make an illustration for it. Consider what media and colours might be most appropriate for the book.
6. Many of the characters have surprising lives in their past that we don’t know much about. Start the story from a different point. Write about the life of Maria, Pavel, or Shmuel before Bruno meets them.
7. In chapter 18, Shmuel tells Bruno his father is missing. Bruno offers to ask his father to help find Bruno’s father, but he decides not to. Imagine that Bruno had asked his father for help and write a scene of dialogue.
8. In the end, Bruno’s mother goes home to Berlin. Write a letter from Bruno’s mother to his father after she returns home.
9. Write an alternative ending to the book. How did you imagine the ending? What other things might have happened to Bruno and Shmuel?
Thinking point: On page 53, Bruno finally asks his father about the people in the striped pyjamas. His father says, “Those people…well, they’re not people at all, Bruno.” Why does he say this? What do you think Bruno thinks his father means? Does this change you feel about Bruno’s father? What is the danger of classifying someone else as ‘non-human’. Think of examples in our current society/world: