How is the Theme of Racism Conveyed in 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'?

440 Words2 Pages
In the novel “The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas” racism is conveyed in a very traumatic way. The biggest examle that conveys racism is the protoganist, nine year old son of a Nazi senior officer and his wife. We can understand the traumatic causes from Bruno’s movement from Berlin to Auschwitz, their forbidden friendship with the jewish kid Shmuel, and Pavel, who is a jewish doctor. Bruno is a nine year old kid lives in a huge house with his loving parents, goes to a school that he got used to, with his best friends for life Daniel, Martin and Karl. His father is a high-ranking SS officer who, after a visit from Hitler (referred to in the novel as "The Fury", Bruno's misrecognition of the word "Führer"), is promoted to Commandant, so the family has to move away to Auschwitz. When Bruno gets there, he feels homesickness after leaving behind his three best friends for life, his home and his school. Unhappy with his new home, Bruno becomes lonely and has no one to talk to or play with. This is a traumatic situation for a nine year old boy. Only reason for this traumatic situation is to command better the jewish camp. Secondly, when he decided to go exploring one day, he met a boy called Shmuel, who is a Jewish boy that lives behind of the fences, in the concentration camp. He's also nine and a very shy Jewish child. While Bruno is truly uninformed about his friend's situation, Shmuel is right in the center of the problem and knows it. knows that Bruno is from “the wrong side”, because Bruno’s father is one of Hitler’s important men. Even though this is a naive relationship between two 9 year old boys, it’s forbiddenity just because of different religions shows us the ugly side of racism. Third, Pavel who is a servant that works in Bruno’s home. He had been a well-established doctor before his internment by the soldiers. Even such a well educated doctor peels

More about How is the Theme of Racism Conveyed in 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'?

Open Document