The three major themes that occurred in the story, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, are the desire for friendship , limits and innocence. of childhood. To begin, John Boyne explored the theme of friendship by having Bruno wander to the camp fence, and he met another boy his age. A problem arises when Bruno discovers the boy's nationality. Shmuel was a Polish Jewish prisoner, imprisoned in Auschwitz with his family. The boys became friends on opposite sides of the fence during the war. Bruno and Shmuel's desire for friendship was so strong that the barrier that separated them became invisible and non-existent in their eyes. The boys' bond grew beyond measure and they quickly became dependent on each other. Additionally, the story explored the theme of boundaries, when Bruno and Shmuel were separated by a fence that showed they could never play or explore together. The separation between the two children was also reinforced by the strict rules of German Nazism which forbade Germans from being friends with Jews, Poles and other groups persecuted by Hitler. Finally, John Boyne successfully told the story from Bruno's point of view, demonstrating the innocence and purity of Bruno's childhood, despite the fact that he lived on the property of Auschwitz, a concentration camp. died, and that he met Adolf Hitler. Shmuel, who had been imprisoned in the camp, did not seem to understand the gravity of his situation. When his father disappeared, Shmuel had no idea and did not understand that he had been forced to go to the gas chambers to serve his death sentence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay The story began with Bruno, a nine-year-old boy living in Berlin, Germany in 1943 with his family. They have to move from their lovely house to a new house in an unknown place called "Out-With". Tempted to explore his new environment, Bruno is told that certain places are “prohibited at all times and without exception”. Unable to resist his adventurous spirit and curiosity, Bruno ventures into the unknown part of "Out-With". He comes across an electric fence which he follows until he sees a young boy sitting on the other side. The boy without shoes was wearing striped pajamas and a cloth cap. Bruno noticed with surprise the boy's armband which wore a star. Bruno and the stranger quickly become friends and establish a relationship of trust. Their bond grew stronger as they exchanged family stories and realized they even shared the same birthday. At the end of their first meeting, Bruno asked Shmuel why there were so many people on his side of the fence and what they were doing there. A few days later, Bruno's father had dinner guests, a man whose name was "the Fury" and his partner, Eva. Bruno immediately didn't like the couple and their attitude. His sister Gretel, whom he called "the basket case", had developed feelings for "the Fury" and worked to impress him and his friend. Bruno, however, was disgusted by his sister's behavior and by her upcoming romance with a young soldier. Being so young and innocent, Bruno interpreted the words "Auschwitz" as "Out-With" and "the Führer" as "the Fury". ' He was unaware of the dangerous territory and the external war that was taking place directly where he lived and played. He continued to explore the woods near his house and often found himself near the fence spending time with his only friend Shmuel. He felt the hungerhis friends and saw his malnutrition, Bruno stole food from his house to provide it to Shmuel. The two friends are saddened that they cannot explore together or play soccer. Shmuel broke down, confessed to Bruno that he couldn't find his father and feared he was lost. Bruno felt his friend's pain and vowed to help him find his father but found himself limited due to the separation of the fence. Shmuel came up with a solution and promised to get Bruno some pajamas from the storage bin so he could blend in on his side of the fence. One fateful day, Bruno took off his clothes, put on the dirty and striped pajamas and sneaked into Shmuel's house. side of the fence through a discreet hole that the boys had previously dug. The search for Shmuel's father ended abruptly. The German soldiers, large and noisy, ordered the prisoners to take off their pajamas and go take a shower. Bruno and Shmuel found themselves in the same line, scared and nervous in the face of the stranger. Holding hands, they were pushed together into the gas chambers where they died devastatingly as best friends. The question I decided to answer is “what did you learn after reading the story you chose?” » After reading this moving and powerful story, I discovered human nature, genocide and innocence. The author compared a German boy with a Jewish boy, which showed the purity of children. It is the circumstances and environment like war, prejudice, hatred, dictatorship that have influenced humans. Innocence was manifested through Bruno, innocent of his father's crimes, and the Jewish people imprisoned in Auschwitz are innocent of any crime. The two boys do not understand what is happening, because they do not consider Auschwitz to be a death camp. The genocide was introduced when Bruno saw the camp as a farm where children had fun and played with each other. As Bruno and Shmuel are placed in the gas chambers, the horrors of the genocide are evident and brought to light. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The genre of this alarming story was historical fiction. John Boyne, the author of this incredible story, wrote this book based on a dream he had about two boys sitting on either side of a barbed wire fence. The way the fence was built reminded him of the Holocost, because he wanted to write a story for young children to read and teach them about how horribly innocent Jews were treated. Three examples I found in the story that led me to think the book was fiction were: If a Jewish child spoke to someone outside the confines of the camp, he would be arrested and severely punished. Bruno would sit on the other side of the fence and talk to Shmuel every day. Additionally, if a camper or non-Jew dug a hole under the barbed wire fence and entered the camp grounds, the soldiers would kill them instantly. This relates to the story where Bruno dug a hole under the fence and crawled through to help Shmuel look for his father. Finally, the author mainly wrote the story from the perspective of Bruno's family and briefly talked about how Shmuel and the other people in the concentration camp were treated. I would definitely recommend this informational book to anyone who wants to read stories about the Holocaust. It is very important that everyone understands and acknowledges the horrors of the history of the Jewish people, and treats everyone with respect. I would absolutely read a book like this again because I love reading about..