"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the protagonist is a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. "One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family's maid-who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet-standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates" (Page 1). Bruno is the one person who is focused on mainly in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". The whole story tells about how Bruno wants to know what is on the other side of the fence. He never really understands the meaning of everything and the book tells all about that. It tells about his opinions on everything from his house to the fence.
Protagonist
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the protagonist is a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. "One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family's maid-who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet-standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates" (Page 1). Bruno is the one person who is focused on mainly in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". The whole story tells about how Bruno wants to know what is on the other side of the fence. He never really understands the meaning of everything and the book tells all about that. It tells about his opinions on everything from his house to the fence.
Antagonist
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the antagonist is the Concentration Camps outside of Bruno's house. Bruno does not realize what the camps are for and that hurt him tremendously. "Shmuel may well have opened his mouth to say something back, but Bruno never heard it because there was a loud gasp from all the marchers who had filled the room, as the door at the front was suddenly closed and a loud metallic sound rang through from the outside" (Page 213). The Concentration Camps were for the people who are Jewish. Bruno's father was a very important leader sin this book after he got the promotion. Bruno never understood or tried to understand the true meaning of the camps.
Theme
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the theme is curiosity. Bruno didn't know anything about the Holocaust but he wanted to. The Holocaust was a very tragic event that took place during World War ll. It was led by Adolf Hitler who was a German. The German side consisted of the Nazi Party or Nazi Army. They would take Jews (women, men, and children) and kill them in many ways like putting them in gas vans with gas cylinders and a sealable gas compartment. These acts were done at Concentration Camps in many areas.
Motif
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the motif is confusion. Although the book doesn't discuss it much, Bruno is very confused about his surroundings. He just wants to go back to Berlin where everything actually made sense. He had his friends there, he had his grandparents there, he had his future there, and he had his life there. Of course, he could have asked his parents or his sister, but he wasn't allowed to. He just wondered and tried to put the pieces together.
About the Author
In the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", the author is an Irish novelist named John Boyne. John Boyne was born on April 30, 1971 in Dublin, Ireland. He studied English Literature in Dublin and Creative Writing in Norwich. He was awarded the Curtis Brown prize in Dublin and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The book itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted and won a host of international awards. It has also sold more than 5 million copies. Currently, John Boyne has published approximately 70 short stories with the most recent being "The House is Haunted" and "Stay Where You Are and then Leave".
Book Review
The main topic of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is the concentration camps and Bruno's curiosity for them because he mainly wonders about them and what is on the other side. If I could rate this book, I would give it four pajamas out of five. The appropriate age group I would assign this book to would be middle school students and up because I do not think kids younger than fifth or sixth grade would be able to understand this book because it gets a little confusing. It is also a great book for adults to read. To understand it better and to get a visual, watch the movie.