The Boy In The Stripped Pyjama's

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a fictional tale of the unlikeliest of friends: the son of a Nazi commandant and a Jewish concentration camp inmate. The novel, set in Nazi Germany, begins when nine-year-old Bruno and his family must move from their lovely home in Berlin to a new house in an unfamiliar place called "Out-With." Tempted to explore his new environment, Bruno is told that there are certain places that are "Out Of Bounds At All Times and No Exceptions." Unable to fight his adventuresome spirit, however, Bruno ventures forth into the unknown one afternoon. Bruno comes upon a fence that he follows until he sees a young boy sitting on the other side of the fence. It’s a forbidden friendship that between an eight-year-old German boy and a Jewish concentration camp prisoner in World War II-era Germany.

The shoeless boy is wearing striped pajamas and a cloth cap. Bruno also notices that the boy is wearing an armband with a star on it. Bruno makes fast friends with the boy, Shmuel, and they quickly discover that they share the same birthday. The boys discuss their families and where they are from. At the end of their first meeting, Bruno asks Shmuel why there are so many people on his side of the fence and what they are doing there. A few days later, Bruno's father has dinner guests; the man's name is "the Fury" and his date is called Eva. Bruno instantly dislikes the couple. Bruno's sister Gretel, whom he refers to as "the Hopeless Case," is smitten by the man and tries hard to impress him and his lady friend.

The innocent son of a high-ranking Nazi commandant, Bruno has been largely shielded from the harsh realities of the war. When Bruno discovers that his father has been promoted and that their family will be moving from Berlin into the countryside, he doesn't take the news well. Increasingly bored in his sprawling yet dreary country abode and forbidden by his mother from exploring the backyard, young Bruno searches for something to do while his older sister plays with dolls and vies for the attention of handsome Lieutenant Kotler (Rupert Friend). One day, bored and gazing out his bedroom window, Bruno spies what first appears to be a nearby farm; Bruno, however, is disgusted by his sister's behavior and her budding romance with a young soldier. Much like Bruno hears "Auschwitz" as "Out-With," he also incorrectly hears "the Führer" as "the Fury." Boyner masterfully tells the story from Bruno's perspective; it is clear that the innocence of Bruno's childhood remains intact despite the fact that he is living on the periphery of a death camp and has met Adolf Hitler.

Bruno continues to explore the woods near his house and often finds himself at the fence spending time with Shmuel. Bruno brings him food, and the friends lament the fact that they cannot explore together or play a game of football. Shmuel confides in Bruno that he is unable to find his father and he is worried. Bruno vows to help Shmuel look for his father; to that end, Shmuel promises to get Bruno some pajamas so that he will blend in on his side of the fence. One fateful day, Bruno sheds his clothes, dons the pajamas, and sneaks onto Shmuel's side of the fence. As the boys search for Shmuel's father, the soldiers herd the prisoners, Bruno among them, into the gas chambers where they meet their untimely death hand in hand. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas explores the beauty of a child's innocence in a time of war, the common desire we all have for friendship, and the fences—both literal and figurative—that we must all navigate and choose whether or not to break down.

Eventually defying his mother's rules and venturing out beyond the backyard, Bruno arrives at a barbed wire fence to find a young boy just his age emptying rubble from a wheel barrel. Like Pavel, the kitchen worker who cooks all of Bruno's meals, the young boy is wearing striped. But the closer these two boys grow, the more Bruno becomes awakened to the horrors unfolding all around them. His mother is catching on quickly as well, a fact that causes great tension in her marriage to Bruno's father. Later, after Bruno swipes a piece of cake for Shmuel, Lt. Kotler accuses the Jewish boy of stealing and delivers a swift punishment. When Bruno's father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt in Heidelberg, Bruno grabs a shovel and makes his way to the camp. When Bruno hears this he decides to go and try out how the little boy feels.

He tells him to try to get him extra clothes so he can go and be with him and in exchange he would give him food. The boy wasn’t sure if he should do it or not, then Bruno comes back later with food and they start digging so Bruno can go in and be with his friend. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work because Bruno had hair. Once they dogged a whole that was deep enough for Bruno to pass over he goes in. Bruno starts putting on the clothes and it was time for them to go back. Once they went back Bruno and the other boy got chosen to go to the steam rooms were they were going to die. They were not sure were they were going to go but they were getting scared. Once they saw people trying to leave they new they were going to die. Bruno was being called to go back to his house they see that he does not appear. They start looking for Bruno and Bruno dad sends the soldiers to look for his son.

They find a shovel and Bruno clothes. They go inside to try to find Bruno. They tell Bruno and everyone in their to take there clothes off people start looking at Bruno because he is the only one that has hair. Many people stare at him. This one old guy kept staring at him for a while. Shumel gives a hug to Bruno because he knew this was the end for them. Bruno doesn’t understand why he hugs him. Then they turn it on and little by little you see people fall. Bruno dad runs over to the concentration camp and starts going in looking for Bruno and screaming his name. Bruno dad gets to the steam places and orders them to open it but when they got there it was to late already. The sky turned dark and it started to rain a lot.  Bruno’s mom suffers a lot in his lose of his young child. Bruno’s dad gets mad at himself for lying to his child and they both start to cry.

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