The Boy in Striped Pajamas

The book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne not only had an emotional impact on me, but I also think that having an innocent boy during the Holocaust narrate the story gave me a different view on the world. I wouldn’t say the book itself was a challenge but all the inferring and symbolism that was hidden in the tiniest details was what I think had the greatest impact on me. It’s interesting to find details that Bruno mentions repetitively throughout the book and turning the literal meaning into a somewhat figurative symbol. I think that these symbols are what brought me closer to Bruno and his way of seeing things…in the end these symbols seem to turn into the “heart” of the story.

When Bruno moves to Out-With, he goes exploring and arrives at a fence. Later in the story we see how the fence not only separates the Jews from the Germans, but for Bruno it separates a true friendship with Shmuel. Although Bruno is unclear about why a fence was built there and who’s on the other side of it, he knows that it’s separating him from playing and exploring with Shmuel—a true friend.  This becomes clear when Shmuel explains to Bruno that they are supposed to be enemies. After reading this part of the story, I realized that everyone has a story of their own but not everyone’s story is found. What I mean by this is that once people are associated with a race or religion, there becomes an automatic boundary between that person and others who are “different” or “better”. I love how Bruno doesn’t understand “Jew” and “German” so he isn’t able to judge Shmuel. Having Bruno narrate definitely had an impact on the way I read the story. In a way, it made me think deeper, thus making me realize that fences like the one Bruno came across exist all the time and how awful they really are. I think Bruno does a good job showing how fences keep people from exploring. For me Bruno not only crossed the fence to help Shmuel find his father, but he crossed it as a symbol that sometimes you have to cross these boundaries for the better. Bruno definitely wasn’t going to let hatred and discrimination that his family surrounded him with stop him from discovering Shmuel’s story.

The first time Bruno goes exploring at Out-With and arrives at the fence, he sees something in the distance. “A dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy” is what Bruno observes when he first meets Shmuel. As I thought about it, I was able to take this very small, detailed observation and make it a part of the general heart of the book which for me is that everyone has a story of their own. Bruno’s observation puts an image in my head that for me, says a lot about who he is inside. I think he means that no matter how small someone might seem at first, it might take some time to see the full picture. Now this is more on the literal side. To be a little more figurative, I think that it also depends on how you are looking at someone’s story. What I mean is perspective; weather you are willing to look at the entire picture. For example, when Bruno met Shmuel he saw how malnourished and dirty he was but he did not once in the book categorize him. He stayed open and wanted to discover Shmuel’s story. Personally, I have a nine year old brother and if I put him in Bruno’s position, I don’t think he would be able to look beyond Shmuel’s appearance and into his heart.

To sum things up, I truly cannot believe the affect this book has on me. Both the narration and the symbolism really added to the heart of the story. Now I understand how awful it is to judge and discriminate people. It is definitely something we must be aware of even in our world today. This story brought me to believe that everyone has a heart and everyone has a story. Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding it.