Blog #4 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

            Both Elie from Knight and Misha from Milkweed have a lot in common. They are both Jewish and are affected by the Holocaust. Misha and Elie are oblivious to the danger that surrounds them. They both were oblivious towards the holocaust because most people who experienced it didn’t survive to tell their story. In both books the Nazi soldiers were directly affecting both of them. Elie was taken to a ghetto and then a concentration camp by the soldiers and Misha was taken to a ghetto by soldiers but later escaped.

Elie and Misha had very dramatic experiences, when there most important motivation was their life. When Elie was walking through the concentration camp he wanted to live very dearly but also wished not to suffer. When Misha was living in the ghetto he did everything he could possibly do to survive even if it meant risking his life. They were both also motivated by their families’ welfare. When Elie was taking his possible death walk he looked back to make sure he was with his father. When Misha fell asleep at night he made sure everyone in his family was safe and sound before going to bed.

A huge conflict that both characters posses is that they are both Jews. Since they are Jewish there is no way around the Holocaust. At this time they are being discriminated against and are living a life they never thought was imaginable. The only route for them was escape or death.

I have a lot of questions about Elie and Misha. Knowing that Elie is writing the memoir of himself today, I wonder how he escaped? Did he somehow get away from the guards and under the fence or was he released somehow because of the war? For Misha I wonder what happened to Jania and if she made it safely somewhere? Both books made me come up with really good questions.