John Boyne’s fourth novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ is a fictional book revealing the innocence of the Germans during the Holocaust with some Historical aspects. The book is seen through the eyes of an innocent child, Bruno who discovers friendship on the ‘wrong’ side of the camp. The book written by John Boyne has many true aspects in the book but changed to show the innocence that the Germans had. For example Auschwitz is pronounced Out-with in the child, Bruno’s eyes. The title of the book ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ refers to the uniform worn by prisoners, in this case the prisoners at Auschwitz. The title also shows more innocence by the boy referring to the uniform as pyjamas and not a prisoner’s uniform; this shows how they did not realize what exactly was going on. John Boyne has inputted great detail in to this book. From managing to show the innocence of the Germans just enough to also being able to show the tragic tales of Shmuel the boy from the parallel universe. Each character in John’s book has their own little story and plays an important role in the conclusion to the book. John’s book showed great detail and historical truth however the novel especially at the start lacked passion which made the story become more like a factual book. An emphasis on the exploration and adventure would do well and improve this novel for younger children. The recommendation of this book to get the best out of it is probably around 15yrs+. To understand the through meanings and what parts show innocence a little knowledge of what the Holocaust was about is needed. This book is not an educational book and isn’t all true but what you get out of this book about the poor treatment of the Jews, how having power isn’t always the best thing and also that there is a hidden truth behind every little corner really makes this book great. If you take this book and judge it without its historical content and the innocence you would get a bad book, that wouldn’t have any spirit and would be very plain. In Conclusion this book shows great detail in to both parties during the Holocaust and depicts the innocence of the German's and abuse to the Jews. This book is well written even though it lacks what is needed to make it a great novel. |
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