The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
John Boyne
Primary setting
Auschwitz, Polond
Main characters
Bruno is a young German Boy who moved to Out-with (Auschwitz) with his family for his father's job. Shmuel is a young Jewish boy who is in a concentration camp.
Main conflict
The friendship of Bruno and Shmuel is the conflict. Bruno is curious about why Shmuel is on the other side of the fence. This is a conflict because Bruno is German and the son of a commandant of Auschwitz. Shmuel is Jewish and is an inmate in the Concentration camp.
Beginning
Bruno finds out he is moving out of Berlin for his father's job. When they get to the new house in Auschwitz Bruno and his sister Gretel see adults and children getting yelled at by soldiers in a fenced in area and Bruno's father told him not to worry about the people behind the fence because they aren't actual people.
Middle
Bruno doesn't like the new house and is really bored because he has no friends here. He makes a swing but then he falls off and hurts his leg. His waiter Pavel cleans him up and he finds out he is a doctor. He also talks about how he misses his grandparents, and how one time before they left his grandmother gets mad and storms out of the house because she doesn't like the fact that Bruno's father is in the fury. One day, Bruno goes out exploring and he meets Shmuel and they get to know each other and find out that they were born on the same day (April 15 1934). Bruno also finds out Shmuel is from Polond, and he asks him why there are so many people behind the fence.
End
Bruno's mother really wants to move back to Berlin because she is starting to realize that Auschwitz is not a place to raise children. Bruno is upset because he doesn't want to have to leave Shmuel. He goes and tells Shmuel the news and they start to say their good-byes, but Bruno still really wants to see what it's like on the other side. The boys start to work out a plan of how Bruno is going to fit in and since he had to shave his hair off. Because of lice, he already kind of looked like Shmuel. Shmuel makes a deal with Bruno. If Bruno helps look for Shmuel's father, then Shmuel will get Bruno the striped pajamas. Once Bruno gets over there, they look for Shmuel's father and after a while Bruno realizes that it really isn't that fun. He wants to go home but once he tries to leave the soldiers made Bruno and Shmuel go on a march with the other people. Then they locked the doors and trapped all the people inside. The room is really dark and the last thing Bruno remembers is holding Shmuel's hand and that moment he realized that was a true friendship.