Essay on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Name: Xuelan

The character Bruno in the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne is the
protagonist, portrayed and heavily emphasized as naive and innocent for his age, which helps
the reader accept his ignorance about the things that were happening in Germany, such as the
Jews being persecuted during WWII.

Bruno’s ignorance is portrayed through his lack of understanding and knowledge of what was
happening around him . For example, on page 4, Bruno shows that he is ignorant about his
father’s job, even though it is stated that there were always “so many visitors to the house–men
in fantastic uniforms, women with typewriters that he had to keep his mucky hands off–and they
were always very polite to Father and told each other that he was a big man to watch and the
Fury had big things in mind for him.” Just a few lines later, Bruno states that he isn’t very sure
what job Father did, “‘‘What kind of job?’ Bruno asked, because if he was honest with
himself–which he always tried to be–he wasn’t entirely sure what job Father did.” These
quotations show that even though there are many clues about what is going on around him,
Bruno never really catches on and remains ignorant for the majority of the novel. Another is a
quotation on page 54, “‘Heil Hitler,’ he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying,
‘Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.” This quotation by itself seems ridiculous
enough, the commandant’s own son not knowing what ‘Heil Hitler’ meant. Throughout the entire
novel, Bruno refers to Hitler as “The Fury”, highlighting that Bruno is oblivious to Hitler’s political
power and plans for Germany. It is important that Bruno’s naivety is established early on in the
novel so that the readers can find his behavior believable.

Bruno does have some admirable qualities such as his sympathetic nature and his kindness
that is shown to the people around him. An example of this is on page 37, where they were
looking at the children from the window and Gretel is acting disdainful towards the children
because they “looked like they’ve never had a bath in their lives”. Bruno gives a much more
sympathetic response than his sister, suggesting that maybe they didn’t have any baths. This
shows that even though Bruno is naive and doesn’t really know what’s going on, he is still
capable of putting himself in other people’s shoes and sympathizing with them. Another
example is on page 63, when Bruno stood up for Maria when Gretel asked her quite impolitely
to run a bath for her, saying that she wasn’t here to do things for them all day, things that they
could do themselves. This shows that even though Bruno is in a position of power in the
household, he doesn’t take advantage of it and respects the servants. Bruno displays his care
for Shmuel by visiting the place where they first met every afternoon even after Shmuel stopped
going and in later chapters he even offers to go to the other side of the fence to help Shmuel
find his father. Overall, Bruno is written as a very kind hearted character which helps the reader
understand why he’d go to such lengths to help Shmuel even though he could potentially get
himself into a load of trouble.
Though Bruno has many likable qualities, he also has a few unadmirable qualities such as his
ignorance and selfishness. For example, on page 127, Shmuel and Bruno were discussing the
armbands. “ “But I never asked to wear one,” said Shmuel. “All the same,” said Bruno, “I think
I’d quite like one. I don’t know which one I’d prefer though, your one or Father’s.” “ This shows
that Bruno isn’t really understanding, or even trying to understand Shmuel’s circumstances and
says something that is considered pretty stupid because of his lack of knowledge on what was
happening in the world at the moment. Another example is on page 128 when Shmuel was
explaining how horrible it was for 11 people to all live in one room Bruno responded with, “ “You
can’t all have lived in one room,” said Bruno, shaking his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“ And assumed that Shmuel was lying. This shows that because Bruno has lived in privilege, he
can’t really comprehend the lives of those who aren’t living in privilege and naturally assumes
that they are lying. Another example is on page 139, when Bruno asked Shmuel if he knew
Pavel and Shmuel said no. “”But you must.” said Bruno irritably, as if Shmuel were being
deliberately difficult.” And even when Shmuel told him that there were way too many people on
his side of the fence, Bruno still insisted that Shmuel knew him. This shows that his way of
thinking is very simple and he comes to assumptions without actually thinking much about it.

In conclusion, Bruno is a well written character with flaws and good qualities that makes him
both likable and unlikable, giving depth to his character and making his actions and decisions
believable.