Written by: Rhiten Giri - 28026, Grade VII
Posted on: 23 August, 2022
Author: John Boyne
Publication Date: January 5, 2006
This story takes place in 1942 around World War II. The main character of this book is Bruno. He lives in Berlin, Germany with his parents and elder sister.
One day, his father got promoted so they had to move away from Berlin.They all moved away to the new house, but Bruno did not like the place .One day he saw a fence from a window a little far from his home with strange people wearing striped pajamas and doing labour. So then he sneaks out of his house and finds a boy the same age as him wearing striped pajamas called Shmuel. Eventually, they became friends, but their friendship was a bit unusual because Bruno was the only one to talk and Shmuel was always depressed and sad .
After meeting Shmuel, Bruno was happier than before. He regularly sneaked out of his house to have lunch with Shmuel. One day, he sneaked inside the fence to see Shmuel, exchanged his clothes with Shmuel and got caught inside the gas chamber and died.
The story is basically about the Holocaust, a time when Jews were poisoned in the eyes of the Nazis, and the novel symbolizes that two boys of the same gender and age have such very different lives, all depending on their race, that they cannot change, and their friendship is a symbol of equality.
My favourite character in this story is Bruno and one of my favourite quotes is "Their lost voices must continue to be heard". This means to me that even though they are dead, they still need to be known for what they did. The book has violence and deep meaning. I would recommend this book because it inspires readers to think about the Nazis and how horribly wrong they were, and also teaches us to never hate someone who is different from you. You should always try to be friends.
