In the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” a story is told of an innocent child’s forbidden friendship during World War II in Germany. Despite all the inhumane treatment of Jews right in front of this young boy, his character is extremely naïve to the reality of what the Nazi’s actually do to the Jews. The overall message the director and writer so vividly portrayed is that of innocence and friendship. What you expect to feel from a film that centered on the Holocaust was compassion and outrage, which at several points I did, but the British accents along with a few small details, continually reminded me that it is a fictional story. For me the film was thought-provoking and entertaining. The director did very well to show a different view of the Germans during World War II, but I felt it did not have the same ominous feel as other Holocaust based films.
The main characters are Bruno and his family, which consist of his Mother, Father and older Sister Gretel. There are other notable characters, like Shmuel, Bruno’s grandmother and grandfather. The significance of each character becomes much clearer as the story unfolds. The characters were very well chosen, for example, Bruno is played by a small boy with black hair and bright blue eyes, almost reminiscence of Hitler himself. I found this to be very profound maybe even deliberate. Shmuel is also small for his age, his head is shaved but you can tell he has light brown hair. He uses a quiet voice when he hints about being hungry, drawing the audience in on compassion. The actor who played Pavel (the older Jew that worked in the Bruno’s family’s kitchen) was of the perfect age and type. If it wasn’t for the speaking in English, you could image him to be a prisoner in...
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...own. The innocence of the two boys can be seen as a tragedy or a blessing. Ignorance ultimately lead them to death, however, all on the same course, to life. Throughout the film it is a continuous reminder from the British accents, that you are watching fiction. Although you try to see the German family as real, you know that is not the case. Despite the lack of connection, the director succeeds in giving the audience a more unique and interesting point of view. It is time that we do put a different view on certain tragedies, allowing a person’s mind to explore other feelings and to be entertained in a variety of ways, even learning from a child’s innocence in chaos and in friendship.
Works Cited
Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. David Fickling Books; 1ST edition (2008), 2006.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. By John Boyne. Dir. Mark Herman. 2008. DVD.
In the novel, The Boy In Stripped Pyjamas by John Boyne, it not only involves the
In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, a young naive boy, Bruno, tells from his perspective how the occurrences in the Holocaust took place. In 1943, the beginning of the story, Bruno’s father, a commandant in Hitler’s army, is promoted and moves to Oswiecim with his family. Oswiecim is home to the hideous Auschwitz Concentration Camp. While Bruno is out playing near a fence at the edge of Auschwitz Concentration Camp, against his father’s orders, he becomes friends with a young Jewis...
The book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne is about a young boy, Bruno, whose father is a soldier in the German army during WWII. Bruno lives with his parents and his older sister, Gretel. They live in a five story house in Berlin. He goes to school and has three best friends that he goes on adventures with. One day he comes home to find their maid packing his things. They move to a three story house in Germany because his dad was promoted and needs to be closer to his work.
Children have often been viewed as innocent and innocent may be a nicer way to call children naive. Since children’s lives are so worry free they lack the knowledge of how to transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. Their lack of knowledge may be a large part of their difficulties growing up, which could be a few rough years for many. In books like the boy in the striped pajamas the story is told from the point of view of a little boy, this way we get a full view of how innocent he is. In this book the writer shows the reader first hand how a child viewed the holocaust and how his innocence cost him his life. Then in books like the perks of being a wallflower Charlie is a teen whom is struggling with the transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. In this book the writer gives a first hand look at how difficult it can be to transition into an adolescent. Charlie has many difficulties in this book; he is in search of his identity and how to fit in.
This film is entertaining, yet that is not its sole purpose. This film is a documentation of the efforts of a band of brothers, who chose not to succumb to the arms of the Nazis, but rather fight and aid their fellow Jewish escapees. The story of the Bielski brothers is not one that is heavily noted, in historical textbooks and other media. Amongst the entire entity that is the Holocaust, this film portrays a small, yet extremely viable portion of the story of the efforts in support of the Jews. The prominent target of this movie is to trigger emotions within the viewer. By including text, such as, “Based on a true story,” and including the end results of the brothers, the primary focus is to ignite the emotional connection between audience and film.
Throughout the novel Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie explicitly illuminates gender stereotypes and paternal and maternal qualities of the Victorian era. In the early 20th century, patriarchal society strictly defined men and women’s roles in the community. Traditionally, men were expected to attain manhood in the eyes of other men in society, find a spouse, achieve success and respect, provide for their wife and family, work through hardships, live adventurously, and financially succeed. A woman’s main role in life was her responsibilities to her family- primarily seen as wives, mothers, and caretakers, with her place being in a domestic setting. Through Peter Pan, Mr. and Mrs. Darling, Wendy, and Peter Pan each adhere to the classic gender stereotypes and paternal and maternal characteristics of the early 20th century in their own unique way.
At first glance the characters Connie from “Where are you going? Where have you been?” and Little Red Riding Hood from the classic fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” may seem to have nothing in common. However, from the start one can compare how much they actually have in common. Though these two characters are very different they are the same in many ways. Their story, from beginning to end, is similar. It is easy to see how alike and different they are with the description of Connie and Little Red Riding Hood’s lives, the relationship with their wolves, and their tragic endings.
Carriere, Kathryn. "Film Review: The Boy in Striped Pyjamas." Journal of Religion & Film 13.1 (2009): n. pag. Web.
Bruno, an eight year old boy at the time of the war, is completely oblivious to the atrocities of the war around him - even with a father who is a Nazi commandant. The title of the book is evidence to this - Bruno perceives the concentration camp uniforms as "striped pajamas." Further evidence is the misnomers "the Fury," (the Furher) and "Out-With" (Auschwitz). Bruno and Shmuel, the boy he meets from Auschwitz, share a great deal in common but perhaps what is most striking is the childhood innocence which characterizes both boys. Bruno is unaware that his father is a Nazi commandant and that his home is on ther periphery of Auschwitz. Shmuel, imprisoned in the camp, seems not to understand the severity of his situation. When his father goes missing, Shmuel does not understand that he has gone to the gas chamber.
In both the film and the book This Boy’s Life Tobias Wolff is surrounded by bad role models and terrible father figures. Wolff and his mother are constantly looking for the complete family life and find themselves in a series of bad situations on their quest. In the book Toby’s relationship with his mother Rosemary is illustrated in a clear and deeper manner but the movie just didn’t seem to focus on it enough. This paper will evaluate the portrayal of Toby’s relationship with his mother and the men in their lives as told in the memoir and the film.
The Book Thief, directed by Brian Percival, and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman, are both films that share similar themes and are focused on the time of war during Hitler’s reign of power. In both films, the idea of innocence is portrayed and corrupted through the friendship of child protagonists, influence of father figures, characterisation of children in war and the narrative perspectives. Symbolism, motifs and themes in these two films are explored to emphasise how innocence is portrayed and corrupted throughout the texts. Through the friendship of child protagonists in both films, the audience is able to view and understand how innocence is portrayed and corrupted. Bruno in The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, is the main
His Father was a Commandant and was loved by the leader called Hitler. Bruno’s father was forced to move to Out-With and bring his family. Bruno and Gretel were both sad about the news but had no choice. While Bruno was in Out-With for a couple
(33). The holocaust is a subject that is normally taught in American schools, making teenagers become aware of the bigotry and anti-semitism that has happened in the past. The movie is giving a message that history can repeat itself if mankind cannot adapt and accept the differences between each
The spectacle and melody in the movie are the “pleasurable accessories of Tragedy” in that, despite their minor roles, they are two parts of the whole in a tragedy (72). The thought and diction behind a character’s lines or lack thereof carry messages of significance to carry out the plot and convey the morals behind its actions to the audience. The characters of a tragedy are defined by the actions they take and act as a medium to convey their moral purpose in the plot. Finally, the plot must flow from its beginning to its end with a unified, cohesive series of events while revealing peripeteia and discoveries as the tragedy draws closer to its conclusion. In the end, Bruno, a boy stuck in-between his family and their country’s beliefs and his friendship with Shmuel, the Jew Bruno was supposed to be brought up to hate, would eventually lead to his untimely death whilst not understanding the gravity of the situation surrounding Nazi Germany during the World
Imagine waking up on a normal day, in your normal house, in your normal room. Imagine if you knew that that day, you would be taken away from your normal life, and forced to a life of death, sickness, and violence. Imagine seeing your parents taken away from you. Imagine watching your family walk into their certain death. Imagine being a survivor. Just think of the nightmares that linger in your mind. You are stuck with emotional pain gnawing at your sanity. These scenerios are just some of the horrific things that went on between 1933-1945, the time of the Holocaust. This tragic and terrifying event has been written about many times. However, this is about one particularly fascinating story called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.