The Boy In the Striped Pajamas: A Dark Yet Gripping Story
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is an incredibly popular Holocaust fiction novel by John Boyne that even inspired a 2008 film directed by Mark Herman. This novel is seemingly innocent at first. Its plot looks and characters look simple and easy to read. But you’ll notice its darkness creeping up on you, slowly, but then faster and faster, leaving you on tenterhooks at every sharp turn. Finally, almost suddenly and surprisingly, it stops with a shocking and horrifying twist that leaves readers both confused and breathless.
When you think back to your initial reading of the rest of the novel, you notice clues, small and subtle, but helpful, that were left for you, leading up to the sudden ending. And, before long, the brilliant albeit tragic, in addition to every other piece of the novel comes together, much like a puzzle, and everything starts to make a lot more sense. At least, this was how I perceived my experience The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It was an incredibly clever and ingenious book that told the intricate story of a fictional character, but from a devastating and very much real time that will never be forgotten.
The book begins as our protagonist, Bruno, arrives home to find one of his family’s maid, Maria, packing up his belongings. Much to Bruno’s dismay, he discovers that his father has received a promotion and they are moving to Auschwitz, very close to a concentration camp, as instructed by a man that Bruno incorrectly calls by the name ‘The Fury.’ Bruno is regretful to have to leave behind his close friends, but ultimately, he ends up going anyway.
Though Bruno’s father was a Nazi and the World War II was going at the time (the book is, after all, a Holocaust fiction novel), we come to know early on that Bruno is oblivious to all of this, almost as if he lives in a different world from the real one. Bruno’s sister Gretel was also introduced early on in the book. It is evident that Bruno and Gretel’s relationship is not a very strong one. Bruno calls Gretel ‘A Hopeless Case’ and it is made clear that the two do not get along too well.
Bruno and his family arrive at the house in Auschwitz, which Bruno does not like. A few of the reasons for this is that it the place is not as big as his old home in Berlin, Germany, and there are many soldiers in the area. Bruno is quick to notice a tall fence, and behind it, several boys and men in striped pajamas, which Bruno does not realize are prison clothes. Gretel informs Bruno that their home is called ‘Out-With’ (another mispronunciation of Bruno’s; the real word is Auschwitz). His father also advises for him to not worry about the people in the camp for they are not truly people.
Some time went by and Bruno still did not become accustomed to his new home. One day, he decided to make his own swing and tied it to a tree, but soon, he fell off and injured himself. Pavel, a man that used to be a doctor but now prepared food for the family, helped Bruno. He wondered why a man like Pavel, who had knowledge in the medical field, would want to be a servant and get meals ready if he could just be a doctor.
Bruno’s parents hire a tutor, Herr Liszt, to teach Bruno and Gretel (perhaps due to the fact that there must not be many schools near by). Once, in the afternoon, one his lessons with Herr Liszt were complete, Bruno went out walking and found a boy near the concentration camp who told him that his name was Shmuel, who added that his family had to been forced to come to this part of Poland and that was why he was here.
Bruno was very pleased to have made himself a friend, and arrived back at the fence to talk with Shmuel as often as he could. More time passed, and Bruno observed how Shmuel seemed to get thinner and less healthy. Bruno began to steal small bits of food from his house to feed him. One day, Bruno found Shmuel in the chicken, polishing glasses, and brought some chicken for him.
However, Lieutenant Kotler, a Nazi that worked with Bruno’s father, came in and saw Bruno doing this. Bruno was rather fearful of him and found him to be very harsh. Bruno, panicking, lied and said that he did not know Shmuel and had never met him before. Lieutenant Kotler threatened Shmuel, and in the following week, Bruno did not see him again. Finally, when the two met, Shmuel was covered in bruises.
After it had been an entire year since the family moved to Auschwitz, Bruno’s mother had begin to get incredibly impatient and did not want to live there any longer. Bruno and Gretel eventually got lice and had to shave their heads, which was the last straw for her, and she managed to convince her father to take the family back to Berlin, telling him that it had been long enough.
Bruno informed Shmuel about this at the fence soon after. He also mentioned how he was regretful that the two never had the chance to play together. Shmuel told Bruno his own share of bad news: how his father had gone missing. On their last day together, the two of them came up with an idea to look for Shmuel’s father. Shmuel decided to bring Bruno a pair of striped pajamas so he could sneak in and they could search the area.
The next day, Bruno got into the camp through a small hole in the fence. He and Shmuel tried hard to find his father, but their efforts were in vain. Just as Bruno had become tired and wanted to return to his house, several soldiers forced all of the people in the pajamas into a building, locking the doors and trapping them all inside. (Readers can infer that this building is a gas chamber.) Bruno and Shmuel locked hands as they all died, and the book ends with one last chapter, stating that Bruno was never heard from again.
There were many aspects of the book that were intriguing and that added to the mood of the story, but one that especially caught readers’ attention was how Bruno as the narrator. As a young boy, he was not well-informed about current events that were going on at the time, despite being the son of a Nazi. If that were not bad enough, Bruno was also exceedingly clueless and curiosity was his ultimate flaw. The fact that Bruno was so indifferent to all that was going on around him but the readers knew what was actually happening added to how dark the story was.
More specifically, the way Bruno mispronounced words made it clear that mentally, he was living in a world that was very far from reality. For example, he often used the term ‘The Fury’ to refer to a man whose identity was never distinctly made clear. But, readers could assume that Bruno actually meant to say ‘The Führer’ or Adolf Hitler. Additionally, he pronounced the place where he lived as ‘Out-With,’ when it was actually ‘Auschwitz.’ Boyne most likely did this to let us see the world through Bruno’s eyes as we struggle to distinguish what is what.
The plot, though it might seem simple, was actually moderately complex in the best way possible. There was a lot of subtle innuendo, rather than direct action. One great instance of this was when Lieutenant Kotler — supposedly — killed Pavel. Though Boyne never used detail to describe how the furious Kotler went about murdering him and how it ended, let alone whether or not it actually happened, Kotler was clearly an impulsive man and Pavel was never mentioned again, so readers simply had to put the two pieces together. This forces readers to really think about the book and figure things out for themselves.
Moreover, though the book was not long and many never truly had a chance to develop, there were some who did. For example, our protagonist Bruno did change from the beginning of the novel to the end. At first, he was clearly very timid and was not even able to admit to knowing Shmuel to Kotler, even though the consequences would probably not have been severe considering how important Bruno’s father was. But, by the end, Bruno courageously faced death knowing that Shmuel was with him and not afraid of what was to come.
Another interesting facet of the novel was how it was narrated by the son of a Nazi. Most Holocaust fiction books are written by those on the opposite side, namely children who were Jewish and were taken to concentration camps. From their perspective, all Nazis were evil, but from Bruno’s, everything is much different. Not only does he not know about Nazis, his lifestyle is much different, and more importantly, though he has his own more marginal issues, he does not have to deal with being on Shmuel’s side of the fence.
Aside from all of that, the most well-done part of the book was the end and how it played out. In hindsight, it was clear that the book began to quicken in the last few chapters, with more settings and events coming into play than ever before. However, even with all of the hints given and the subtle foreshadowing, especially Bruno’s cluelessness and other small clues, the dark ending was stunning and unexpected, which added to the depth of the entire book and made the whole plot that much more fascinating.
All in all, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will make for a rather memorable read and is one of the best Holocaust fiction novels out there. Though it does have quite some violent innuendo, it is otherwise suitable for people of all ages. But, be warned. The conclusion of this book is not what you expect. Nevertheless, the entire book, especially the last portion, is worth every minute of your time. Though it might not have a fai, from the intriguing middle chapters to the shocking climax and the thoughtful epilogue, this book will have you turning pages as quickly as you can until there aren’t any left any more.
