Blog #3 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

During the starting pages of my book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the author introduces many characters. The one character that we learn the most about is the protagonist, Bruno.  We meet Bruno as he is marching up the staircase in his large home.  He finds his maid, Maria packing his belongings. He does not understand why they have to move but is told that it is because of his father’s very important job. When Bruno’s father is mentioned it is always in a very formal manner. Using these clues from the text we can infer that his father is a high ranking Nazi solider. One hint that we acquired was that his father had dinners with the Fury who can be inferred to be Hitler. We do not know much about Bruno’s sister Gretel except that the two do not get along very well. Bruno refers to his sister as the “hopeless case”. The two have a first moment without fighting while looking out a window of their home and looking toward a concentration camp. They are in awe, and believe that they are neighbors. They don’t realize their fathers’ soldiers are putting their ‘neighbors’ to death.

The story begins in Berlin, at Bruno’s large fancy home. He is only here for a short time while packing his belongings. Bruno and his family are then taken to their new home. It is right outside a fence that is surrounding a concentration camp. As soon as Bruno arrives at his new home he is quick to compare it to his old home. He hates his new home. There are no friends to play with and the house is too small. Bruno is obviously very spoiled coming from such a wealthy family. He also does not realize the scale of what is happening just a short distance away from his home. Since Bruno is so curious I can predict that he will soon explore his new surroundings. He will find the camp and the horror it holds.

Bruno and his understanding of the concentration camp is the main problem in the story so far. Bruno and his family had to move near it as a part of his father’s job. Bruno does not understand the purpose of the concentration camp. I can infer that the camp will affect Bruno in a negative way. I think he will somehow end up near the concentration camp and be in danger.