It is not easy to describe this amazing book in a few words. Usually the abstract gives the reader an idea of what will be discussed, but in this case we are afraid that any preliminary conclusions or clues will only get in the way. We think it is very important that you start reading without knowing what awaits you. Let's just say that an unusual and fascinating journey awaits you with a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. We just warn you right away that this book is NOT for nine-year-old boys; on the contrary, this is a very adult book, addressed to people who know what barbed wire is. It is the barbed wire that will grow on your path with Bruno. This kind of fencing is quite common in our world. And we can only hope that you personally will not encounter anything similar in real life. The book will certainly capture you and is unlikely to let you go soon. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” is a parable about the Holocaust told by Bruno, a naive boy who still understands little. This is an extremely unusual, non-trivial and therefore especially scary perspective on the horror of the 20th century. A film has just been made based on the novel, filming took place in Budapest. One of the main roles is played by English actor David Thewlis, whom Russian viewers know for his role as Paul Verlaine in Agnieszka Holland's drama Total Eclipse and Remus Lupine in the film adaptations of Harry Potter. English director Mark Herman won the French Cesar Award for best foreign film in 1998 for his previous film The Orchestra Players Put Down Their Trumpets. The film's premiere is scheduled for the end of 2008.
"The Boy in Striped Pajamas" - plot
The story through the eyes of a nine-year-old German boy, Bruno, who lives carefree in a beautiful five-story house in Berlin, along with his family and friends. One day, Bruno comes home to find his maid Maria putting his things in a suitcase, as the family is forced to move to Azh-Vys because his father has a new important job assignment. But Bruno doesn’t like the new place, he’s bored, wants to play, but has no one to play with. Then he goes to explore the territory that he could see from the window, where people were walking around in identical striped pajamas. There he met his new friend - a Jewish boy, Shmuel, sitting on the other side of the fence. It turned out that both boys were born on the same day, and, as it seemed to Bruno, they had a lot in common. They regularly met at the fence, but time passed and the parents decided that Bruno, his mother and sister should go back to Berlin. Then he decided to go say goodbye to his friend. It is at this moment that Bruno decides to help Shmuel find his father. Having changed clothes, he becomes like the other prisoners, and in this form the boy crawls onto the other side of the fence.
Criticism
Sometimes, among the stream of books, one appears that awakens the senses, disturbs the mind and gets stuck in the memory for a long time. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” is just such a book.” The Yorkshire Evening Post
“Very simple and completely unforgettable. There are no monsters or bogeymen in this book, but real horror always hides in the ordinary.” Ireland On Sunday
“A sad, deep and disturbing parable about human purity, which is always on the other side of good and evil.” The First Post
"A little masterpiece." The Guardian
“An amazing thing, so simple and so easy, it literally breaks the soul.” The Irish Times
Reviews
Reviews of the book “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
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Kristina Borisova
One of the most memorable
I remember when this book caught my eye, I kept wondering whether I should read it, after thinking a little, I finally took it.
From the first pages the plot begins to captivate.
It is written in clear language, so it will be interesting to any age.
Throughout the reading, I felt great interest and anticipation of how it would all end.
And even though I read it a long time ago, I still remember all the little things and details of this amazing work.
In general, after reading it leaves a pleasant mark on the soul.
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Dilya Bykova
It is difficult, very difficult to write about a book that has shaken up feelings so much
It is difficult, very difficult to write about a book that has shaken up feelings so much. The topic of World War II itself has always worried me. Perhaps because my great-grandfather died in battle, perhaps because for me human life is the highest value, perhaps because war leaves no one indifferent. Even children. Children who had not yet lived in this world, who could have been happy and healthy, but the war did not spare even them. Small, innocent souls... They don't know what enmity is. They are open to friendship and accept each other unconditionally.
The main character of the novel is an eight-year-old boy, the son of the head of a concentration camp, who, together with his father and family, moved to live from Germany to Poland. By the will of fate, he meets a Jewish boy who lives out his short life in a concentration camp. It is difficult for children to understand why all this is happening, why they, two identical boys, are forced to communicate through barbed wire. But no fence, no conventions, no rules, no prejudices can interfere with their bright, sincere friendship. They see only similarities in themselves: in age, in appearance, in hobbies, in outlook on life. Even in life situations that happen on opposite sides of the fence with each of them, they find something that brings them even closer together. For them there is no nationality. The main value for them is the warmth of human relationships, friendship and mutual assistance.
The story ends tragically. Both boys find themselves in a concentration camp and accept the death prepared for them by the fascist regime. But even in the very last moments they hold hands because they are best friends. A German and a Jew, two innocent souls who have seen so little in life, but have so deeply learned true values.
No, you will not find bloody battles in this book, a riot of aggressive emotions, or see the terrible deaths of that war. But you will feel all the horror somewhere deep in your soul. The anxiety that grows from the first pages will turn into a silent scream, tearing your heart apart. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is an incredibly touching book about children's sincere friendship and adult stupid hatred.
For fans of films that show the events of the Second World War, this work will be just a gift. But there is no fighting or menacing generals. What is it about it that catches you?
We will talk about the audience’s attitude towards the work at the end of the article. But judging by the reviews, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” amazes all viewers with the depth of meaning and the power of the ending. True, the endings of the book and the film are completely different.
Let's take a closer look at this masterpiece.
Roman Boyna
John Boyne is a 43-year-old Irish writer, author of twelve novels and more than seventy short stories. Over the entire period, more than five million copies have been sold, which was greatly facilitated by Miramax's film adaptation of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
This work was awarded two international awards. In addition, for eighty weeks the novel topped the Irish bestseller list, the New York Times bestseller list, and also became almost the most popular book in Spain in 2007-2008.
There is a famous phrase that the truth speaks through the mouth of a baby. On the pages of the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” Boyne narrates the most terrible events of the twentieth century through the prism of their perception by an eight-year-old child.
Let's figure out what attracted readers to this work, and also why the film turned out to be a little more prosaic, but heavier than the book.
But first we should make a small digression.
Holocaust in Germany during the war
Translated from Greek, this term means “burnt offering”; in Hebrew it is called “shoah” - “catastrophe”. This is one of the most vile pages of human history of the twentieth century. Over the course of several years, not only Jews were systematically exterminated, but also Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, physically handicapped and seriously ill people.
In the work “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” the plot concerns exclusively the Jewish issue, so further discussion will only be about it.
What do we know from historical sources? The most real document is the protocols. They contain the testimony of SS Standartenführer Dieter Wisliceny. He puts the figure at more than five million human victims.
How did this policy develop? It all started with the Nazis coming to power in 1933. Decisions are made regarding the “purification of the Aryan race from undesirable elements.” went in several stages. Let's take a closer look.
In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were proclaimed, which deprived Jews of many rights and effectively forced them to flee the country. The only problem was that most had nothing and nowhere to leave. In addition, all countries except the Dominican Republic refused to accept large numbers of refugees by closing their borders.
The next significant event was Kristallnacht, when extensive and numerous pogroms of Jews took place in Germany. It received this name because of the fragments of window glass that littered the sidewalks.
Then there was a stage of forced resettlement to the east, to Poland, Belarus, Western Ukraine, where fenced areas and labor camps were created, where Jews were rounded up and transported. According to experts, the largest was the Lviv ghetto, where more than four hundred thousand people lived over several years.
The goal was set as follows. It was necessary to separate the non-Jewish population from the Jewish population and force the latter to become slaves.
The last stage began in August 1941, when Goering gave Heydrich the order for a final solution to the Jewish question. From this time on, concentration camps began to be created, where thousands of “subhumans” were destroyed in “gas chambers.”
The novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” reflects the period when Goering’s order began to be carried out. But we'll talk about the plot a little later.
Conflicts of the work
In the book and film adaptation of the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” the content illustrates the mood of the Germans in the early years of World War II using the example of one family.
Several characters are intertwined here, reflecting different attitudes towards the Jewish question.
The main theme is revealed through the prism of the worldview of an eight-year-old German boy who made friends with a little Jew in a concentration camp. He does not understand what kind of “farm” is located nearby, and also why he is not allowed there.
Over time, communicating with the prisoner servant, as well as the boy Shmuhl, he understands that something bad is happening, but still idealizes his father.
The climax comes in the ending of the book, which remains open-ended. In the film, the strongest point is also reflected in the ending, but it is made complete.
The second heroine is Bruno's twelve-year-old sister, Gretel. She is at the beginning of adolescence and is already devoid of many naive illusions. Her flexible worldview reacts vividly to fairy tales about the terrible Jew who destroys the German nation. Until the end of the film, she ardently supports the idea of cleansing the nation from evil subhumans.
The conflict between father and mother is also revealed, and the emotional experiences of both adults are shown. The first wants to make his family happy by getting a promotion, but hides from everyone what he really does. The mother strives to protect her children from the horrors of war, but the climax comes when she learns the truth about the concentration camp.
The lieutenant and Bruno's grandparents reflect opposite attitudes towards events in Germany. The first is radical, the second is sharply negative, and the grandfather is more neutral.
A remarkable moment is the death of the old woman. We learn that she is “sick” (the official version for Bruno, why she does not come to visit), and then they report her death. This event is fraught with mystery, but is not developed further in the film.
It turns out that it symbolizes the image of people who were categorically against the new government and its methods. Such “protesters” simply disappeared or died suddenly.
Thus, having briefly outlined the mood in the novel, let's talk in more detail about the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
The plot of the film
A German officer receives a promotion and is forced to move with his family from Berlin to the countryside. He was promised a big house. But the first shots of the new home show that not everything is as good as it seemed at first.
The building looks more like a prison, with soldiers walking everywhere. There is a feeling that the children and the woman were imprisoned. The father is simply “doing the job.” What exactly he does is still unknown.
While settling in, Bruno notices through the window a strange “farm”, the inhabitants of which wear striped pajamas. Mom even allows him to play with them. This is where the first conflict arises as the horrors of war begin to seep into the family.
The children see a prisoner-servant who is assigned to the commandant's family, and the parents quarrel because the camp is close to home.
The plot develops in two directions. On the one hand, a tutor arrives and begins to hammer the ideas of National Socialism and purity into the children’s heads. On the other hand, the boy often makes his way through the backyard to the concentration camp fence, behind which he sees something completely different.
While Gretel becomes infected with Hitler's ideals and hangs his posters in her room, Bruno discovers the other side of the coin. He begins to communicate with Shmuhl, an eight-year-old Jew, through the barbed wire, and also talks with the servant.
In answers to the perplexed and naive questions of the little German, the author reveals the horror and hopelessness of the prisoners’ situation. But this is only the beginning of the tragedy.
Periodically, the wind brings a terrible stench from the camp. The family is informed that it is the prisoners' dirty clothes that are being burned. The revolution occurs at the end of the film, when Shmul tells Bruno about the mountains of unnecessary clothes in the barracks. And the lieutenant accidentally lets the commandant’s wife know about the real “fuel” of the stoves.
The climax comes when the German boy promises to help the Jewish boy find his father in the camp. With this he is trying to atone for his betrayal of their newfound friendship, when Shmul was punished due to his slander.
The book ends with Bruno entering the concentration camp through a tunnel. The film expands the novel a little. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the ending is made complete, unlike the printed version.
In the film adaptation we see the death of two boys in the gas chamber, as well as the grief of the family. The father's eyes express the complete collapse of his past beliefs.
The final scene with a pile of abandoned clothes of murdered people brings back once again thoughts about the horror of all these events.
Now let's take a quick look at the cast.
Butterfield's first significant role
The boy Bruno was played by Asa Butterfield. This role was his first serious appearance on the screens. He was nine years old then. The acting career of this young talent began at the age of seven on the stage of the school theater. Next was a role in a television drama.
For his role as Bruno, he was nominated for "Most Promising Newcomer", but took second place. Why did this role win the hearts of the audience so much?
We will find the answer by reading the reviews. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” is a film that opened the door for the young actor to the world of popularity.
Asa managed to convey the image of a sincere and naive eight-year-old boy (which, in fact, he was at that time). Exploring the world and relationships between people, he first encounters the cruelty and injustice of reality.
In the film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” the actors do an amazing job of realizing their roles. The game fully reflects the drama of the situation.
And Bruno's death, according to some critics, symbolizes the death of humanity in the clutches of the Reich's military machine.
Bruno's mother and sister
These two women played their roles perfectly. Amber Beatty is the actress who played the daughter, and Vera Farmiga played the mother.
They needed to express the feelings of German women of two age groups, which they did brilliantly.
If you pay attention to the reviews, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas touches the worldview of many people today. After all, similar ideas are popular in our time.
Gretel embodies all the characteristics of an idealistic, young and passionate youth. And the already settled Elsa, who has something to lose and something to fight for, shows us the mood of peaceful townsfolk who do not sympathize with Hitler’s policies.
For most of the film, they each live in their own fantasy world. Elsa hides behind the position of a mother and wife, who “does not interfere in her husband’s affairs,” but only takes care of the house and children. And the daughter is in false fantasies put into her head by her tutor and the image of a handsome lieutenant with whom she falls in love.
The collapse of illusions occurs at the end of the film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” The actors amazingly played the state of people who were hit by reality. Both the young idealist and the mature mother of the family were destroyed by the war machine.
Difficult choice of commandant
In relation to the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the book gives more room for thought. However, the dramatization of the image of the commandant is better presented in the film adaptation.
Plays a German officer who finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He is trying to protect his family from the current situation in the country, on the one hand. On the other hand, he has to strengthen his crumbling relationship with his wife and children, who cannot withstand the cruelty of the events taking place.
Particularly noteworthy is the moment at the end of the work “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” The film even focuses the viewer’s attention on this a little. The commandant, who rationalized the process of exterminating prisoners, immediately loses his son in this monstrous meat grinder.
His role reflects the slave position of man in the state mechanism.
Forced to obey orders without question, Ralph performs his duties exceptionally well. He also copes well with the role of a father at the initial stage. But in the end everything collapses.
Actor as Lieutenant
We get at the beginning of the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” a description of the young officer as an ardent champion of the new ideology. He stands for the cleanliness of the nation and is clearly proud of his involvement in the process of “garbage removal.” Rupert Friend did an amazing job in his role.
He tries to become perfect in his new image. Why new? Because as the story progresses, we learn about his father. It turns out that this man was an opponent of Hitler’s policies and left for Switzerland.
Thus, with just one answer to the guest’s empty question about his family, the entire career of the young lieutenant, on which he had pinned such hopes, collapses. In addition, Kurt makes a second mistake. He lets slip to the commandant’s wife (thinking that she is aware and shares his delight) that it is not clothes that are burned in the ovens, but corpses.
This random remark simultaneously destroys both the family of Ralph and Elsa and the future of Lieutenant Kettler. As a result, he is sent to the front.
Thus, in the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” the author shows the soullessness of the military machine, which does not pay attention to either “its own” or “strangers”, but simply “feeds” on human lives. Moreover, they are sacrificed in completely different ways, which plunge people into the abyss of death and madness against their will.
Critics' ratings
First, let's talk about the film adaptation of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." The film receives several awards.
It wins the Audience Award at the Chicago Film Festival. In Spain it receives the Goya Award as the best film in Europe. Vera Farmiga receives the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress of the Year.
In addition, Asa Butterfield was nominated as “Discovery of the Year” for his role in the film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” The content and production captivated the jury members so much that Herman received the prize in the “Best Director” category.
Now critics' reviews of the novel. Media outlets such as The Guardian and Irish Times have hailed it as a heart-wrenching little masterpiece.
Also interesting is this review: “This is a parable about the purity of human goodness and innocence, which are beyond the eternal struggle of light and darkness.”
What can be said about the novel “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” itself? The book at one time made a splash in Europe and honestly took its place among the masterpieces of world literature.
The main sad leitmotif of the work is that such atrocities happened a long time ago, in the last century, and they will not happen again. The tragedy of this phrase is that in reality it turns out to be sarcasm.
Shh,” Shmuel put his finger to his lips. - Be quiet, otherwise they will get angry.
Bruno frowned, but sighed with relief when other people in striped pajamas began to approach them; many were pushed by the soldiers, and the boys found themselves in the center of the crowd, so that they could not be seen. Bruno didn't understand why everyone was so scared - after all, marching isn't the worst thing in the world. He wanted to whisper to these people that everything would be fine, that his father was the commandant of the camp, and if he gave any order, then it was necessary, and there was nothing to be afraid of.
The whistles sounded again and the column of about a hundred men moved slowly forward; Bruno and Shmuel were still in the very middle. Some commotion was heard from behind; someone at the end of the column refused to march with everyone else. Bruno was too short to see what was happening there; he only heard loud screams and shots, but he couldn’t make out what was what.
How far will we have to go? - he whispered. He had been hungry for a long time.
“I don’t know,” Shmuel answered. - I have never talked to people who participated in such marches. For some reason they didn't catch my eye. But I think it’s unlikely to last long.
Bruno looked at the sky with concern, and then another loud sound was heard - thunder roared overhead. The sky immediately darkened almost to blackness, and rain poured down, even heavier than what had fallen in the morning. Bruno closed his eyes and felt water running down his body. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer so much marching as he was being carried somewhere along with everyone else, he was covered in mud from head to toe, his soaking wet pajamas stuck to his body, and now he wanted only one thing - to return home and watch all this at a distance, and not jostling in the thick of the crowd.
“No,” he muttered, “I’ll get a cold.” I need to go home.
But as soon as he said this, the crowd carried him to some steps, and when he climbed them, it turned out that there was no more rain, because everyone was crowded together in a long room, where it was surprisingly warm. In addition, this room had strong walls and a reliable roof - not a drop of moisture penetrated inside. And in general, it seems that nothing penetrated, not even air.
Thanks for that too. - Bruno was glad to hide from the thunderstorm at least for a few minutes. - We'll probably wait here until the rain stops, and then I'll go home.
Shmuel pressed himself almost closely to Bruno and looked up at him, fear frozen in his eyes.
Sorry we didn’t find your dad,” Bruno said.
“Nothing,” Shmuel muttered.
And it’s a shame that we weren’t able to really play, but when you come to see me in Berlin, we’ll definitely play. I'll introduce you to... Oh, what are their names? - he asked himself sadly. After all, these three were his true friends for life, but they all disappeared from his memory. He didn't remember a single name and couldn't imagine what these guys looked like. - However, it doesn’t matter whether you meet them or not. They are no longer my best friends. - And then he did something that was completely out of character: he took Shmuel’s thin hand and shook it firmly. - Now you are my best friend, Shmuel. My faithful friend for life.
Surely Shmuel answered something, but Bruno did not hear, because at that moment the front door closed and a drawn-out metallic grinding sound was heard from outside. The people filling the room gasped loudly.
Bruno raised his eyebrows, wondering why the door was locked, but decided that this was being done in order to better shelter people from the rain, since they might catch a cold.
And then the room became very dark, and in the midst of the ensuing confusion and terrible noise, Bruno suddenly realized that he was still squeezing Shmuel’s hand in his hand, and now nothing in the world would force him to unclench his fingers.
Chapter Twenty
Last
Bruno has been missing since then.
For almost a week, the soldiers combed the house, yard and surrounding area, drove around neighboring towns and villages, showing everywhere a photograph of a little boy. Finally one of them discovered the piled clothes and boots that Bruno had left by the fence. The soldier did not touch the things, but ran after the commandant. He examined the area, turning his head now to the right, now to the left, just like Bruno when he got here for the first time, but he could not understand, no matter how hard he tried, what happened to his son. The boy seemed to melt into thin air, leaving only his clothes on the ground.
Mom did not return to Berlin as soon as she had intended. She spent several more months in Azh-Vysy, waiting for news about Bruno, until she suddenly took off, deciding that he might have gone home on his own. Approaching their Berlin house, my mother already saw him sitting and waiting for her on the porch.
Of course, he wasn't there.
Gretel returned to Berlin with her mother. She sat alone in her room for a long time and cried - not because she threw away all her dolls, and not because she left cards covered with pins in Azh-Vysy, but because she really missed Bruno.
My father spent another year in Azh-Vysy, mercilessly persecuting soldiers and officers, which earned them their hatred. Every night he went to bed thinking about Bruno and woke up thinking about him. Over time, a hypothesis formed in his head that roughly explained what happened to his son, and the father went to the place near the fence where a pile of clothes was found a year ago.
At first glance, there was nothing remarkable there, this area was no different from the others, but then the commandant did a little research and discovered that the fence in this place was not properly attached to the ground, and if you lifted the wire, then someone could crawl under it a short and not fat person (for example, a ten-year-old boy). The commandant looked into the distance and, with the help of logic, reconstructed what had happened step by step, and when he restored it, he discovered that his legs refused to serve him - as if they were no longer able to support his body - then he sat down on the ground in almost the same position in which he had just Not every day during the year did Bruno sit, unless he tucked his legs under him.
A couple of months later, other soldiers came to Azh-Vys and told my father to go with them, and he went - without objection and even with joy, because he was completely indifferent to what awaited him.
This is how the story of Bruno and his family ends. Of course, all this happened a long time ago and will never happen again.
Not in our days and not in our century.
I have a double impression of the book. To explain the reason, I will tell you a little about the content of the novel. The main character is a nine-year-old German boy Bruno, one day his father is appointed commandant of a concentration camp and the whole family - parents, Bruno himself, his sister Gretel and all their servants move from a wonderful Berlin mansion to a house opposite the Azh-Vys camp (it won’t take long to guess that we are talking about Auschwitz, Auschwitz). Bruno does not understand where they have come, who these people are behind the fence, dressed in the same striped pajamas. His parents don’t explain anything to him, and generally don’t pay him too much attention. He is bored and, while exploring the territory, he meets the boy Shmuel, whom he saw on the other side of the fence, and they begin a friendship.
So, first about the bad - what I didn’t like. The nine-year-old hero, on the one hand, is well-mannered, but very selfish - he thinks only about himself and does not know how to sympathize, does not know how to listen to someone he considers a friend. He reads books, goes to school, but doesn’t know that there is a war going on, what a concentration camp is, and has never heard about the Germans’ hatred of Jews? I can assume that the truth was hidden from him, but he often eavesdropped on the conversations of adults and could not help but hear the conversations of the military, of which there were plenty on the territory. These contradictions, as well as Bruno's narrow-mindedness, prevented me from warming to him.
Otherwise, the book is very easy to read - certain figures of speech are often repeated, but this only emphasizes that we are shown how a child perceives his surroundings. There are no atrocities or bullying here; I expected stronger emotions. But there are phrases that are naive at first glance, but that’s why they are so strong, they contain truth, not framed by the lies of adults.
So what is the difference between the people behind the fence and the military? - Bruno asked himself. And who decides who wears striped pajamas and who wears a nice uniform?
What else makes you think? Hints. We are very subtly shown cruelty - the gray complexion, exhaustion, bruises of Shmuel. And along with this, incredible willpower - after all, the little prisoner does not complain, he endures suffering very steadfastly.
Everyone must form their own opinion about this work. The novel is full of historical inaccuracies, but it reminds us that everything in life will have to be paid for, and the evil committed will not go unpunished. At least I would like to hope so. It’s also very scary when things that are shocking in their cruelty become familiar to people.
