The Boy in the Striped Pyjama's by John Doyle (4)

The cautionary tale is about two boys, one the son of a commandant in Hitler’s army and the other a Jew, who come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates, and eventually intertwines their lives.

Set during the Holocaust, Bruno is only nine-years-old when his father, a commandant in Hitler’s army, is transferred from Berlin to Auschwitz. The house at “Out-With,” as Bruno calls it, is small, dark, and strange. He spends long days gazing out the window of his new bedroom, where he notices people dressed in striped pajamas and rows of barracks surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Bored and lonely, and not really understanding the circumstance of his new existence, Bruno sets out to explore the area and discovers Shmuel, a very thin Jewish boy who lives on the other side of the fence. An unlikely friendship develops between the two boys, but when Bruno learns that his mother plans to take her children back to Berlin, he makes a last effort to explore the forbidden territory where the boy in the striped pajamas lives.

This is a book club book that we all decided to read ...... And I thought it was a good read ... It is definitely a Young Adult book as it is told from a nine years old perspective ....

It is a very easy read ....... And you could easily finish it in one sitting as it is also large print .... I loved the concept of the story being told from a child's view .... Very clever ... The way that he calls the place "Out-With" and also the name he calls the leader "Fury".

It did make me reflect on how Innocent Bruno is ......... And how much responsibility that we have as parents to teach our children correct principles because what we say and teach them is how they view the world ......

There is just enough of sadness in the book to reflect the awful circumstances that surround the two boys ....... My only complaint with the book is that if the reader doesn't have a knowledge of what happened in these camps you cannot really grasp what is occurring in the story .... I think this may be one of the rare occasions that a visual movie would capture the story better ...... And probably in my case cry the whole way through the movie ........

I enjoyed the book and like I said before it would be good for a young reader .... But you would have to have a good discussion about the book and the context to make sure that they understood what was happening ... But felt that The Book Thief was more sensitive to the victims of the Holocaust and War times ...... As it gives a more graphic and realistic description of what actually happens at war times ....

I rate this book 4****

This is the Books to Movie part of the review ........ And didn't I tell you that I would cry :( .......... But only at the very end :( ......... I enjoyed the movie but I have to say like so many times the book is far better ........ I was waiting and waiting for the little quirky sayings of 'Out-With' and 'Fury' but they never happened !!! ........ I felt the movie lost abit of its charm and innocent because of that ...... But I felt the movie was good and the acting excellent by the boys :) .... Well worth watching ........ But Please read the book !!!!

Discussion Questions for the Boy in the Striped Pyjama's by John Doyle

Well Girlie's here are the questions for the next book .......

1. What did you think of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas? What did you particularly appreciate? How did your emotions change during the course of the story?

2. Do you think Boyne was right to look at this subject from the perspective of a naïve young boy? How effective do you think this was in helping you to approach the subject?

3. How did you feel about Bruno and his family when we first meet them in Berlin? To what extent did you struggle to identify with them because they are a Nazi family?

4. At age 12, Gretel is the proper age for membership in the League of Young Girls, a branch of Hitler’s Youth Organization. Why do you think she is not a member, especially since her father is a high-ranking officer in Hitler's army?

5. What did you think of Bruno’s character? What did you like about him? What didn’t you like?

6. To what extent could you understand Bruno’s adoration of his father, and his struggle to come to terms with what he was discovering?

7. Bruno asks his father about the people outside their house at Auschwitz. His father answers, “They’re not people at all Bruno.” (p. 53) Discuss the horror of this attitude. How does his father’s statement make Bruno more curious about Out-With?

8. What is it about the house at Out-With that makes Bruno feel “cold and unsafe”? How is this feeling perpetuated as he encounters people like Pavel, Maria, Lt. Kotler, and Shmuel?

9. How did your feelings about Ralph (Bruno’s father) change during the book? Was there a turning point in your feelings? If so, when?

10. Why do you think Ralph did what he did? How would he have justified it to himself and to others?

11. What do you think drove Obersturmführer Kotler to be so cruel?

12. Why does Gretel change? What impact does this have on Bruno?

13. How would you describe Elsa? Were you surprised that Elsa (Bruno’s mother) was unaware of the true nature of the camp? How would you have responded to this situation if you had been in her position?

14 .‘Elsa doesn’t think. She doesn’t think for herself, she doesn’t think deeply. She chooses to be oblivious, concerning herself only with the safety of her family and her position in society – everything else is beyond her periphery. She’s a sort of accomplice and assistant to her husband’s ideals, his desires, his morals and his ambitions.’ (Vera Farmiga)
To what extent do you think she is morally responsible for what happens?

15. When Bruno dresses in the filthy striped pajamas, he remembers something his grandmother once said. “You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be.” (p, 205) How is this true for Bruno? What about his father? What does this statement contribute to the overall meaning of the story?

16. How would you describe the friendship between Bruno and Schmuel? What makes it a good friendship?

17. Why did Bruno betray Schmuel? Why was their friendship able to survive this?

18. How do you think the family, and Ralph in particular, would be impacted by the final scenes of the book?

19. How do the characters in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas exemplify Hannah Arendt’s notion of ‘the banality of evil’, that evil arises out of the tendency of ordinary people to follow orders, to accept what they’re told by authorities, to conform to the prevailing opinion? How easily could such evil arise in our own society? What might lead to it? What could prevent it?

20. When Bruno and his family board the train for Auschwitz, he notices an over-crowded train headed in the same direction. How does he later make the connection between Shmuel and that train? How are both trains symbolic of each boy’s final journey?

21. Bruno issues a protest about leaving Berlin. His father responds, “Do you think that I would have made such a success of my life if I hadn’t learned when to argue and when to keep my mouth shut and follow orders?” (p. 49) What question might Bruno’s father ask at the end of the novel?

22. In what sense is this a redemptive story?

23. Does The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas fill you with despair or hope? Why?

24. What would you identify as the most important messages from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas