I.

Characters

Shmuel- A Jew who Bruno later made friends with.

Bruno- A young, curious, and adventurous German boy.

Ralf- Bruno’s father and a Kommandant.

Elsa- Bruno’s mother and wife of Ralf.

Gretel- Daughter of Elsa and Ralf; Bruno’s sister.

Lieutenant Kolter/Kurt- A Lieutenant that was settled in where the family lives.

II. Summary of the Film

The film starts with Bruno, one of the main characters in the movie, playing with a
few of his friends Elsa surprised them with news of their father Ralf getting promoted,
resulting with them needing to move into a much more rural area. After they moved to
Poland Bruno discovered a "farm" in which he found "strange" people dressed in pajamas
after reporting his discovery to his mother Elsa suggests that he should stay away from them
because they are "strange". Then Bruno asked one of his father's soldier if he had a tire in
which he used to make a swing, while on his swing Bruno lost in thought fell out of the swing
then hurt himself and lost consciousness Pavel one of the workers from the "farm" helped
him and aid his injuries, then Pavel revealed that he was once a doctor leaving Bruno baffled
as to why he left being a doctor to peel potatoes. Bruno being a natural explorer wanted to
explore the back garden in which his parents warned him not to go to, he went and explore
the back garden and escaped his houses' premises while running around he found the
"farm" and met this kid named Shmuel, he started asking Shmuel questions like why is he
wearing the pajamas and as to why are there numbers attached to their pajamas, while
talking they heard the whistle blows signaling Shmuel to go home. The next few days Bruno
kept coming back and talking to Shmuel as days went by they became friends. One day the
chimney went off and Bruno smelled the smoke he asked his parents and his sister if they
smelled the “horrid” smell coming from the chimney, his father Ralf said that the soldiers
were just burning trash, his mother coming back from smelled the horrible smell coming from
the chimney and Lieutenant Kolter or Kurt said “they smell even worse when they burn, don’t
they” hinting that the worker or the Jews are the ones burning. Knowing the ugly truth Elsa
went to talk to Ralf about the situation she went mad and started crying when Bruno walked
in on them to tell them that his grandfather arrived at their house. At a dinner while they were
eating and talking about Kurt’s father being brought up and how he left Germany for
Switzerland to leave service, Ralf and his father then went on and on about betraying their
country. Pavel a Jew worker for their family were angrily called to refill the gentlemen’s wine,
he struggled to go over the table and as he refills Ralf’s wine glass he was given a disgusted
look and then went over to refill Kurt’s glass and then accidentally spilled wine all over the
table, Kurt angrily took Pavel away then beat him to death. Shmuel answered that they
needed small hands to clean the glasses that’s going to be used for dinner, Shmuel kept
eyeing the food on the table so Bruno asked him if he wanted some and Shmuel nodded in
response then Bruno gave him a piece, Lieutenant Kolter or Kurt walked in on them and saw
that Shmuel was eating and asked if he stole the food he then replied that Bruno gave them,
feeling scared after what happened to Pavel, Bruno denied in response to what Shmuel said,
after that Bruno and went to the camp to see a bruised Shmuel. Days later there were many
soldiers at their home and they went to Ralf’s office to watch something the curious kid that
he is Bruno went on and peek at what they were watching and saw that they were watching
a commercial about the camp that Shmuel was included in, after the commercial Bruno
hugged his father not knowing that the commercial was only a facade to hide the truth about
what actually was going on in the camp. Bruno saw Shmuel inside his house asking why he
was there. After what happened Elsa went on to fight Ralf about moving away from their
current house saying that the environment wasn’t fit for the kids, few days later when they
were actually moving Bruno went to see Shmuel for the last time and working on the thing
they were planning Bruno brought a shovel with him to dig the ground and go inside the
camp to help Shmuel to find his father, after digging a deep enough hole Bruno changed into
the “pajamas” and went inside, Shmuel thought that they should check their hut first so they
went their and Shmuel called out to his father when suddenly soldiers went in and brought
the Jews, Shmuel, and Bruno to walk to the gas chamber, arriving at the chamber they
ordered to take off their clothes, and brought to the gas chamber where they met their
demise.

III. Most unforgettable scene/s in the film.

When Bruno fell from his swing, a Jewish man named Pavel lifted him up and carried him
into his house where he helped Bruno. Because Bruno asked Pavel why he switched from
being a doctor to peeling potatoes without realizing that Pavel had been forced there as a
slave to work for the Germans, this scene will always be remembered. Bruno is a sweet
young boy who thinks his father was doing a fantastic job.
Following the lie he told regarding Shmuel, Bruno later expressed guilt over his response by
sobbing. This scene will always be remembered because of Bruno's genuine terror and his
high regard for Shmuel as a friend.

They were taken to the gas chamber and burned to death as Bruno entered to help Shmuel
in finding his father. This stood out to me since Bruno went inside to aid Shmuel and was
then taken to the gas chamber where he mistakenly believed they were merely going to take
a shower rather than die.

IV. Most unforgettable line or dialogue from the film.

When moving to a new house the family were discussing the move in which Bruno wasn’t
excited about his father said “Look, the thing is, Bruno, the thing about being a soldier is that
life is not so much about choice, it’s more about duty.”