The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
John Boyne
Primary setting
1943-1944 the story starts in Berlin and then goes to Auschwitz in Poland. It is a Concentration camp.
Main Characters
Bruno - A nine year old that does not understand a lot.
Shmuel - The boy in the striped pajamas that is nine years old and in the concentration camp Auschwitz becomes best friends with him
Main conflict
Bruno and Shmuel are becoming very good friends and talk to each other everyday, But they have to keep their friendship a secret because Shmuel is Jewish and Bruno is German.
In the beginning of the story
- Bruno moves to Auschwitz from Berlin where he has no friends and doesn't go to school and is very lonely
- His father gets a new job for the Fury he was the head of the concentration camp
- Bruno does not like his new house and refuses to like it because it is a lot smaller than the old one
(pages 3-20)
In the middle of the stroy
- Bruno goes exploring because he has nothing to do at the new house
- While he is exploring Bruno sees a dot in the distance that becomes bigger and bigger until he finds out is is a boy (Shmuel)
- They become very good friends and talk everyday and Bruno sneaks Shmuel some food, they can only see each other through a fence
At the End of the Story
- Bruno sneaks into the camp with Shmuel to help him find his father because he is a good friend
- They don't find shmuel's father but they have to go on a march, Bruno doesn't want to
- They get lead into an airtight building (the gas chambers) and are never heard of again
- Bruno's family tries finding Bruno but all they find is his clothes and a small opening in the fence that a little boy could crawl through
- They say that the Jews were weird bad people and totally different from anyone else but in the end they couldn't tell the difference from the son of the Commandant from a Jew