John Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

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Through 1939 and 1945 World War II raged throughout the world. The war was fueled by genocide, an act against humanity, where a certain group is targeted. During the war Jews were the target and there were many death camps all over Europe. A very well-known death camp was Auschwitz, over 1 million Jews died there. In many modern day pieces of literature, World War II and the Holocaust are used to show the horrors of war. But in some pieces this idea of pain and suffering isn’t just the idea presented to the reader, but also a hidden theme of humanity in war. In John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, he uses World War II as a setting to show the evil doings of the Nazi, however, during the war, an underlining theme of humanity in a time…show more content…
But his humanity and urge to help someone who is in pain takes over his feelings for himself. Pavel shows the selfless act of helping Bruno after he falls off his swing and scraps his knee. Just after Pavel goes out of his way and heals Bruno’s knee, Boyne writes, “Pavel carried hum across the lawn and back towards the house, taking him into the kitchen and settling him on one of the wooden chairs… ‘It’s not that bad,’ said Pavel, but in a gentle and kindly voice. ‘Don’t make it worse by thinking it’s more painful than it actually is.’ ” (79-80). Pavel a prisoner at Auschwitz knows of the evil that is going on just a hundred feet behind him in one of the most notorious death camps the world has ever seen and Pavel has to take care of the managers house all day. Before Bruno’s accident, Pavel helps Bruno find a tire for his swing to make…show more content…
When Bruno is lead into the dark room on the other side of the fence, Boyne writes, “And then the room went very dark and somehow, despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go”(213). At this moment, Shmuel and Bruno walk into the gas chambers, where they would die. Bruno walked into a camp that he knew nothing about and changed into clothes that he was not accustomed to. He promised his best friend that he would help him find his papa, when in reality his papa had died. Bruno risks getting in trouble and doesn’t realize the situation that is going to happen to him. Bruno and Shmuel are not supposed to be friends but that doesn’t stop Bruno from helping his friend. Bruno grasp onto Shmuel and doesn’t let him go and this comforts both of them. They both have this connection that makes them have this friendship that could not be stopped by an atom bomb and it is strong till the moment they die. They might have been two opposites, but due to the circumstances, a friendship in a time of war blossoms like flowers in the spring. In the end Bruno stayed because he is a very close friend to Shmuel even during the most difficult times when his first impulse was to leave, Bruno stayed out of loyalty to his friend. This hints at the idea of
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