Rationale:

The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas, a novel written by John Boyne which has given
many people a strong impact. I chose two entries from Pavel’s diary as my written
assignment. He wrote diary entries for himself but after the war, the entries were
founded by someone else and been published. Pavel is one of the victims of the
Holocaust during World War II. He was forced to work in Bruno’s house in “Out
with”. He used to be a doctor, but he had to work in the kitchen peeling the potatoes
just because he was Jewish. I believe using an opposite perspective to retell a couple
of moments while in the house. Helping Bruno deal with the cuts and serving dinner
would be very different from Pavel’s perspective. This will not only to indicate my
understanding of the novel, but also show the main idea of novel more strongly: the
tragedy of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. There is no date on the diary
because I assume Pavel is suffering enormous pressure both physically and mentally,
so I infer he lost the sense of time.

TASK:

Several days after General’s arrival.

It was a very tiring and thrilling day. Lieutenant Kotler was invited to work with
General and he somehow has a relationship with madam and miss. He was ordering
me, yelling at me in front of kids to carry a tire for Bruno. It was quite heavy for me
to carry the tire since my legs are not following my orders properly anymore. I
couldn’t eat much but had to suffer heavy physical labor every day after I peel all the
potatoes. However, the case happened: Bruno hurt himself while he was playing on
his hand-made swing.
I helped to deal with the cut with band aids. I tried to comfort him telling him it
won’t be as “fatal” as he thought. Bruno is quite a funny boy. I told him I used to be a
practicing doctor, but he didn’t know the real meaning of “practicing”. It made me
want to have more conversations with him, and then I asked him what he wanted to be
when he grew up. Not surprisingly, he wanted to be an explorer. He has been saying
that since I met him. Unfortunately, Bruno’s mother came in and found Bruno had a
cut on his knee. I was very scared and I even couldn’t breathe properly. I tried to focus
on peeling potatoes to ignore the fears, but my hand was shaking really badly. After
Bruno was sent to his room, I thought everything was over for me, that this would be
the last time I could work in here… However, I was surprised that madam suggested
pretend that Bruno’s cut was cured by her.
Oh my lord, a German is protecting a Jew! I believe she was protecting me from
General. If it was Kotler, I would probably not able to write this and be killed by
him… I could never imagine there are still some Germans willing to accept us as
human beings. The world is crazy, but I was very comforted by her kindness.
Cloudy, before the storm

I feel my body is getting worse and worse, my hand is shaking and I cannot move
as quickly as before. Today, Kotler was invited to have dinner with General’s family,
so I had to prepare a bigger meal. I had more work to do today, and my body couldn’t
stand it. I was overwhelmed by the heavy physical labor.
During dinner time, after a day’s work, I couldn’t even stand properly; I had to
use my hand to support me along the walls. General seemed very unpleased today, he
asked some sharp questions to Kotler, but I couldn’t really hear what they were
exactly talking about. Suddenly, General shouted to me to fill his glass with wine. I
had a hard time getting the cork out with my shaking hands and pouring the wine for
him. However, the bad case happened… I accidently dropped Kotler’s glass and then
he was really mad at me. He was shouting like a storm to me and even made the kids
cry… I cannot hold it any more. I think it will be the end of my life… I am suffering
the pressure both physically and mentally… I don’t think we have a chance to be
rescued by the Allies… I used to practice as doctor and I have met some German
patients. I couldn’t forget how they were happy for their recoveries… But now they
hate us and suspect us. I really wish I could go back to the days when we all lived
equally together…