Gretel's The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The boy in the Striped Pajamas is a story about two ordinary boys, with only one difference among them; one was a Jew and one was a German. Bruno is a nine year old boy living in Berlin, Germany at the time of World War II, around 1941. He is a happy young boy who lives with his older sister Gretel, his mother, and his father, who is a Nazi soldier. He enjoyed life in Berlin with his three best friends and the busy city streets where he played. Soon all of this would change.

Bruno is forced to suddenly leave his beloved house in Berlin to move to Auschwitz for his father’s job promotion. His father shows little sympathy for Bruno is worries about what his new life would be like. As a military man, he is strict and a disciplinarian leader not

While talking to Maria, their maid, he unfolded his frustration on her. He stated how boring Out-With was and how he could not understand his “stupid” father’s motives for the move. Bruno expected Maria to agree with him, but instead she told Bruno, “There are many things which your father has done, many things of which you should be proud. If it wasn’t for your father, where would I be know after all?”. This part shows that maybe not all Jews and Germans hated each other as though we would have thought. This scene is significant because it gives me a greater understanding of the historical context from a Jew’s point of view. Before Bruno and Maria were finished with their conversation, Gretel appeared and was shocked to see them talking. Immediately, she orders Maria to run her a bath and felt like the Jewish maid should do whatever she was told. This scene is important because it shows just how greatly the Nazis influenced the children of Germany. Although most the children of the German culture were brainwashed, some were too young to quite understand what was happening. Shmuel prominently broadened Bruno’s insights of the camp when he states, “There are no good soldiers.” Which makes it evident that a majority of the soldiers disregarded the Jews. This book widened my knowledge of the Holocaust and how the Germans mostly wanted someone to blame and to take their infuriation out on. They were ashamed of their problems during the Great Depression, and the Jews were who they blamed. My opinion on this book is that it gives a greater understanding of the judgement that occurred because of the war and it gives an insight on the nature of man. This book made me realize we are not born hating, but taught to hostility and cruelness. Gretel is shown to be influenced by Nazis and believes the Germans are superior, while Bruno was quite ignorant of the Holocaust and it’s true horrors. I recommend this book because