Boy in the Striped Pajamas Essay

1093 Words5 Pages
Being didactic in nature John Boyne’s novel, ‘The boy in the striped pyjama’s’ and Roberto Innocenti’s picture book, ‘Rose Blanche’ are used as opportunities to raise issues about the human condition. Using different modes of production Boyne and Innocenti foreground ideas about the cost, significance and importance of friendship challenging the perspectives of the responder. Both of these texts also present notions about the innocence of children living in a world of evil. Though both mediums represent different contexts they similarly present multiple perceptions of experiences that happen during Holocaust. Boyne is successful in shaping meaning through the notion of friendship. ‘Boy in the striped pyjama’s’ is a representation of life during the Holocaust where Boyne reflects and addresses many issues and concerns one being the importance of friendship, a perception we can all relate to. Bruno is characterised as a boy who is constantly seeking the company of others. In the place of ‘Out With’ Bruno is friendless and therefore bored out of his mind. It isn’t until Bruno initiates a conversation with Maria, who is understood to being at the bottom of the social ladder when she gives the declarative statement “That’s not for me to say, Master Bruno”, that we realise the extent Bruno will go to get someone to be-friend him. Having known nothing about Maria’s context Bruno’s loneliness leads him to discover the truth about Maria’s past. He then comes to understand the integrity and value of friendship but most prominently its importance as he personalises Maria, ‘She must have thoughts in her head just like him’. This is not only a recognition of Maria’s humanity but Bruno comes to understand how the forming of a friendship allows us to gain insight to who an individual truly is thus making friendship an importance. Boyne has the purpose of challenging his audience
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