The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

 

Intro

"The Boys in the Striped Pajamas" was published in 2006, written by Irish novelist John Boyne. The novel is about Holocaust, and the writer used a nine-year-old boy Bruno to lead readers to take a peek at his life in "Out-With" and his journey with his new friend Shmuel.

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Before I read "The Boys in the Striped Pajamas," I had no idea what this novel was talking about. The only thing I knew was that it was about Holocaust. I have to say, this novel blew my mind and took my breath away. The protagonist Bruno is a nine-year-old boy, and his father is a commander in the concentration camp. One day, Bruno was told to pack his things and move to a new place due to his father's promotion. The name of that place they moved into is called "Out-With."(After I looked up online, I found that the author referred to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.) Bruno was desperate because he had lost all of his friends and had no one to talk to except his annoying sister. One day, Bruno decided to explore the area around Out-With, and unexpectedly, he found a boy named Shmuel on the other side of the fence.

One of the interesting things about this novel is that the readers already knew about the concentration camp and knew how cruel the Nazi was, but our protagonist Bruno has no idea what is going on. He only knew was that he was forced to leave his friends and cozy house in Berlin, and he also knew that his father was a good person. However, he didn't understand why many people were living on the other side of the fence and all wearing striped "pajamas"; he didn't understand why one of their servers once was a doctor, but now the only thing he had to do was to peel the potatoes; he didn't understand why Shmuel was so afraid of soldiers and didn't like Bruno's father. Bruno lived in a comfortable environment and he didn't have to worry about his next meal. However, because Shmuel was Jews, he had a totally different, miserable life compared to Bruno.

I have always been interested in reading Holocaust-related novels or movies because I want to know how brutal humans could be. Why did these people think they had the power to control others' life, even to end them? Till now, many similar things keep happening, which always makes me feel shocked and depressed. 

While reading this novel, I felt like I went on a journey with Bruno. He gradually realized the dark side of this world, although he still didn't fully comprehend everything. I admire how the author designed the plot, especially at the end of the story, he left readers in shock and sadness. I like what he said in the author's note, "Fences such as the one at the heart of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas still exist; it is unlikely that they will ever fully disappear." Although we don't have a physical fence to separate people nowadays, we still have a barrier between people. If we are all willing to spend some time understanding others, maybe one day, these fences will disappear.