How Does the Fence Function as a Symbol of

Arbitrary Boundaries Between People?

7-16-18

From September 1, 1939, to September 2, 1945, World War II

commenced with a plethora of inhumane acts by the Nazis. Along with
the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazis invaded several countries, such as
Poland, to gain recovery, power, and the extermination of
“undesirables.” To eradicate all the Jews, the Nazi’ solution was the
“harmless” death camps constructed of concrete structures serving as a
massive killing facility. Similarly, in the historical fiction novel, The
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne, 9-yer-old Bruno enjoys his
tranquil and content life in an ostentatious house, until he is forced to
move to a desolate place due to his father’s promotion. Throughout his
year’s-stay in Out-With, he discovers a boy exactly at his age from the
other side of the concentration camp fence. With his curiosity,
determination, and optimism, Bruno develops a dangerous friendship
with Shmuel, despite their racial differences. Thus, the dividing fence
symbolizes the conflict between religion, race, and the boys themselves.
In particular, the fence functions as a symbol of arbitrary
boundaries between people by religion. As it is especially portrayed
during World War II, the Nazis thought of themselves, including their
religion, to be irreplaceable. Because of their parochialism, the Nazis
develop intolerance toward the Jews and their religion. With their
intolerance, the Nazis were unwilling to open their minds to respect any
religion; on the contrary, the Nazis’ intolerance led the Nazis to place
the Jews in death camps to exterminate them. Such intense ruthlessness
toward a group of vulnerable people proves the unfair bigotry of the
Nazis. Similarly, in the novel, a fence functions as a divider between the
Germans and Jews who both experience distinct living conditions due to
their mere race. With the fence in Bruno and Shmuel’s lives, it keeps the
boys apart for the majority of their friendship. The fence also displays
the difficulty of forming friendships across ethno-religious lines under
the Nazi rule, causing it to become no facile feat. Thus, the Nazis
strategized to construct a fence to partition people by their religion to
avoid any human interactions and bonds.
Not only did the Nazis despise the Jews and other races for not
following their religion, but they also shunned the Jews for their race.
Since the Germans didn’t consider the Jews as actual people, they
assumed that it was humane to separate them from the world with a
structure serving as a boundary. By creating a boundary, the Nazis
developed hatred for one specific race due to their past conflicts with
them. With the Nazis’ power, the Nazi government determined one’s
future with their own standards and personal grudges, which fueled their
revenge and yearning to exterminate all of the Jews. In Out-With, the
fence separated Bruno and Shmuel due to the “superiority” of Bruno’s
race and the “inferiority” of Shmuel’s race. Thus, Bruno and Shmuel
didn’t perform the surfeit of activities and games like a typical
friendship, but rather was limited to discreet conversations across the
fence.
Finally, the opposite characters of Bruno and Shmuel strengthens
the fence’s function as social division. Due to the Nazis’ rivalry with the
Jews from the 1930s, they created “Opposites”: one superior and inferior
type of people. By performing such action, having a fence not only
divides the civilians and prisoners, but creates a border for two entirely
different people. Likewise for Bruno and Shmuel, they are opposites of
each other. Bruno is a wealthy, carefree, and innocent German, with the
Nazi Swastika symbol. On his side of the fence, he doesn’t need to
worry about poverty, hunger, and murder. Unlike Bruno’s side of the
fence, Shmuel is a scared, quiet, and compassionate Jew who faces
depression, inhumanity, and hunger. Shmuel wears the Star of David
armband to represent his lower status. Thus, not only does the Star of
David armband and Nazi Swastika symbol represent one’s place in the
social hierarchy, but the fence further divides them in bias and
dehumanization.
Overall, the fence plays an utmost role in the story, as it affects the
characters’ actions. Even throughout history the fence of any structure
separated people due to the cruel Nazi government. For both historical
fiction and modern times, the government holds power, which can
sometimes be abused. After all, no matter how stringent the government
and standards are, one will be willing to allow their voice to be heard for
more equality and change.