The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas Innocence Quotes

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne explores the view that childhood innocence is compromised in times of conflict. Young and innocent, Bruno lives in a wealthy family in Nazi Germany, along with his elder sister, mother and father. When Bruno’s father is promoted to be commandant of a concentration camp, the family is required to relocate to the country side. Forbidden to go outside the houses boundaries Bruno is quickly overcome with curiosity, boredom and frustration, and eventually finds himself wandering along the wired fence, separating him and his family from the ‘farm’ next door. Bruno comes across a young boy named Shmuel, whom he will soon learn that he cannot be friends with, because Shmuel is a Jew and Bruno is German and…show more content…
Because of his age and innocence Bruno doesn’t understand some of the words and phrases mentioned in the novel, such as ‘out-with’ and ‘the fury’ which most adult readers would probably recognise as Auschwitz and the Fuhrer. Bruno is also required to do the Nazi salute each time he leaves the presence of his father, “Heil Hitler, [Bruno] said, ‘Which, [Bruno] presumed, was another way of saying, ‘Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon’ ”. Bruno also doesn’t understand why some people are wearing the striped pyjamas, such as Shmuel, and why others were not, such as himself. “What exactly was the difference? he wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pyjamas and which people wore the…show more content…
Before Bruno and his family moved to ‘out-with’, Gretel, his twelve year old sister with her collection of dolls, knew as much about the war as he did, which was pretty much nothing. However, as soon as they moved to ‘out-with’ and Gretel met nineteen year old Lieutenant Kotler, whom she immediately took a liking to, she began to take more interesting in what was going on around her. She traded her collection of dolls for newspapers and maps of Europe to track the Nazis progress, and unlike Bruno she was captivated by what Herr Liszt had to teach them and became immersed in the happenings of the war, particularly the Nazis progress. Despite all this Gretel still cared deeply about her family, especially Bruno, no matter what their differences, and was devastated when she realised what had happened to
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