preview

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Theme Essay

Decent Essays

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Theme Some people believe that certain individuals are better than others. They were not born thinking this but were told this later in life. This book is a great example of someone who believes everyone is equal. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the main character, Bruno, moves with his family for his father’s new job at Auschwitz. Bruno can see the camp but does not know who is there or what is going on. This changes when he goes over and meets a prisoner named Shmuel who is the same age. Their friendship is the only thing keeping Bruno from wanting to leave. In this book, John Boyne teaches the reader that people are equal, no matter how different their backgrounds are. The first example of what makes people equal happens when Bruno meets Shmuel. Bruno was very happy to meet Shmuel and hoped to soon become friends. Shmuel was also a prison of the concentration camp where Bruno was not allowed to go. After their first conversation, Bruno has to choose whether he would tell everyone about his new friend. He finally make up his mind when he says, “It would be his own secret. Well, his and Shmuel’s”(Boyne 133). Bruno, not knowing that he could get into a lot of trouble for doing this, feels it would …show more content…

At the end of the book, Bruno snuck into the concentration camp to play with Shmuel but they got caught up in a march. This march led them into the gas chambers and then Bruno sensed something bad about to happen. Once he heard the doors click shut, Bruno said, “‘You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life’”(Boyne 213) This quote shows how strong Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship is. Even though Shmuel was Jewish and Bruno was German and they were not supposed to like each other, their friendship kept them together. The society was supposed to separate them but they stayed together all the way until the

Get Access