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Book review: The Boy in Stripped Pyjamas (Part 1)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is a historical fiction set during World War II based on the experiences of nine-year-old Bruno, who lived in Berlin with his family. His father received a promotion and they moved to Poland, where their new home was next to a concentration camp. Bruno's ignorance about the camp and the fate of Jews is highlighted when he befriends a young Jewish boy named Shmeul, who lived on the other side of the electric fence, leading to a tragic ending.

Published:April 16, 2023 at 10:33 PM3 min read

Book review: The Boy in Stripped Pyjamas (Part 1)

By Snehal Dhingra

The historical fiction ‘The Boy in a Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne is a story set up in the backdrop of a Holocaust, based on the feelings of a nine-year old boy named Bruno (the protagonist) and his actions towards another boy of the same age, Shmeul, along with the other Jews at the time of World War II.

He lived together with his father, mother and sister named Gretel in Berlin. His mind was tangled and cluttered when suddenly one day he observed that his family was shifting from a beautiful house in a city to the countryside, Poland. Bruno’s father, who was an army commandant working for Hitler, got a promotion due to which they had to manoeuvre away. Their new home was besides a concentration camp, Auschwitz (Bruno pronounced it as Out-With) which his father was in charge of. After few days of shifting, affected from his loneliness as he was always surrounded by army officials, he started wandering within the deserted neighbourhood because there was no other house or children to play with.

So, when his monotonous instructor, Herr Liszt, and the monotonous existence indoors become too much for him to bear, he begins to slip away. He rushed through the woods to the camp, where he came up against Shmuel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, who lived behind that huge electric fence.

Bruno is particularly troubled by his mother's instruction to stay inside their dull, walled-in front yard. After all, he imagines the "farm" (he thought the camp to be a farm where the farmers are growing vegetables and fruits) beyond the trees in the rear to be full of life, food, vegetables, and soon-to-be companions. He is oblivious to what is going on in his new environment, especially why his 12-year old sister, Gretel, abandons a prized doll collection and decorates her bedroom with Nazi youth posters. He doesn't understand why elderly Pavel, a "farmer" (but was actually a prisoner of war) who works in the kitchen, gave up his career as a doctor to peel potatoes. He also does not understand why Pavel and the other "farmers" wear striped pyjamas.

Throughout the story, he got conversant with this Jewish kid who was of the identical age but was weak and pale. Violating the rules of not going near the camp area, Bruno used to sneak off with some homemade food for his friend daily. They used to talk about their life and he used to play games with Bruno from the other side of the fence. Their friendship grew to its utmost when at some point again, one day Bruno’s family decided to shift somewhere else.