Reading Response Questions 1 Setting The setting of THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS is presented through the eyes

of a young child who is ignorant to the happenings around him. The childs innocent take on everything creates for a very biased and basic view on the setting, as being a child he goes to very few areas and knows not of the problems going on around him. With descriptions of what he enjoys being eloquent and illustrious. Whereas he describes what he does not enjoy as bland and distasteful. Bruno remembered around the house in Berlin were other streets of large houses, and when you walked towards the centre of town there were always people strolling along and stopping to chat to each other or rushing around. The town had 101 things to do. (p13) This gives the reader a bustling exciting feeling of the city. After the move Bruno gets stuck here in this cold, nasty house with three whispering, maids and a waiter who was both unhappy and angry. (p15) The narrator in this book influences the way that the reader feels about each segment immensely. In the way he writes entire pages on what he enjoys, attempting to use impressive diction to describe his most joyous settings. Yet in the areas he does not enjoy he only writes a few lines using negative language to indicate his feelings. The setting plays a massive part of the plot and novel, even though the descriptions do not give the reader an idea of where the book is specifically set. This is because the settings influence the actions of the boy. Without any friends and with the lack of an interesting house, he is pushed into exploring which is how he eventually stumbles upon the concentration camps. The whole plot turns because of the sudden change of setting which Bruno is very disappointed about. Quotes: All around the house in Berlin were other streets of large houses, and when you walked towards the centre of town there were always people strolling along and stopping to chat to each other or rushing around. The town had 101 things to do. (Ch. 1 p13) And now he was stuck her in this cold, nasty house with three whispering, maids and a waiter who was both unhappy and angry. (Ch. 2 p15) I have chosen these two quotes as I feel they show Brunos feelings toward his move and the new setting. The two quotes are very clashing, one talking of great and busy city the other talking about a measly little home that the boy does not enjoy.

Characterization: The protagonist in THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS is undeniably Bruno as the reader follows the story through his innocent view, giving a different view on the terrors through his intrepid mischief. The reader can tell this by the way the book follows his point of view in the novel. It is also obvious he is the protagonist as the story has rather a biased view on things; this view is biased to his perspective as a young innocent child. It has to be said that his innocence is his most important characteristic. Brunos innocence is what changes the book from a war story in tattered times to something unique and wonderful through the eyes of a child whos biggest terror is that he can no longer have fun with his friends in Berlin. Another one of his traits is his urge as a young boy to explore and have fun, this is driven by his awe of great heroes and his curiosity for finding what hasnt been found before. It is this passion for exploration that leads him to meeting Shmuel which gives the story a more serious feel as he witnesses the horrors of the concentration camps with a happy heart through ignorant eyes. A third and final trait of Bruno is that he is very talkative; this is fuelled by his wish to make a friend to play with in these boring times for him. Bruno is not faced with a great many challenges throughout the story especially when compared to the horrors going on just next door to him. However he has faced the challenge of his confusion in the way that he does not know anything about what is going on in the concentration and is very curious to find out what it is and why the people are there. This is also a weakness for him for without knowing it he is getting into very big trouble which could lead to catastrophe and disaster as the plot continues in its twists and turns. Bruno also faces the challenge of creating new ways to find fun, this ends up taking all the plot turns in the novel. For example when he creates a swing on the tree he cuts his leg and finds out Pavel is a doctor; this leads to him learner secret information about Pavel that he should not have learnt. There is also the time he goes exploring and starts to communicate with a prisoner which will indubitably lead to future incidents and incurrences for both of the children. The characteristics of Bruno are very important to making the novel what it is without them the book would simply be a very slow historical/contemporary fiction novel. However with them the novel is unique with the reader wondering how Bruno will interpret the next item from history, with the ever present looming fear and foreshadow that his curiosity will lead him too far and ending up with the protagonist in some terrible predicament. Most characters in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas are introduced and built through direct characterization. Bruno however is built up through indirect characterization. Brunos appearance is left up to ones imagination although his feelings and morals towards things are rather obvious from the way he thinks and talks to and towards different people and events. Within this novel the author tends to use indirect characterization above direct characterization. This is not to say he does not use direct characterization as he often uses direct characterization to develop other characters. I believe he uses characterization in such a way in this novel because he wishes to make the book almost exactly through the eyes of the protagonist. Reading and interpreting the protagonists thoughts gives a reader a closer feeling to him and his world. With the book being third person limited as well John Boyne does an excellent job of immersing the reader

into believing that they are seeing this world through Brunos eyes, this is because of the power of good characterization.

Conflict The conflict in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is through the eyes of a little boy and thus although the entirety of the book is based on one of the biggest conflicts mankind has ever sparked against itself, the conflicts remain simple and innocent. For example some of the conflicts in the book would be Brunos conflict with boredom in these short summer days, Brunos conflict with his sister as they both try to annoy each other as siblings do, and finally Brunos everlasting conflict to find out what is going on around him, in his crusade against his own ignorance through exploration and getting deeply involved in conversation. Bruno has numerous problems, confrontations, and conflicts with other people implying man vs. man, however because Brunos real problem lie within his quest to find more knowledge of his surroundings, whats going on and how he can spend his time in this boring lonely, boring new house of his I believe instead it is man vs. self. Bruno no longer has any friends to play with. But there is one thing that he is able to do on his own and this he has done all the time in Berlin, this is exploring. (P. 99) This quote was chosen because it conveys Brunos conflict with boredom and how he has to find new ideas all the time in order to entertain himself. It also leads to his better understanding of the area and what is going on in his fight against his own ignorance as from there he learns about his surroundings and learns some information that only makes him more quizzical rather than lifting the clouds over his eyes. There werent any doors, insisted Shmuel. Of course there were doors there were doors, said Bruno with a sigh. Theyre at the end, he repeated. Just past the buffet section, (Ch. 12 P. 130) This segment of a conversation between Shmuel and Bruno highlights some problems with Brunos quest to gain knowledge. It starts off with a question from Bruno of how Shmuel arrived in Out-With that was thought up to make Bruno more aware of what is going on and develops into him being more quizzical than when he started because Shmuel isnt living by the same standards that he is. He finds this complicated as he does not understand how others could be treated differently to how he is as he is ignorant to inequality among people. This develops the conflicts in the story as there is a clash of what Bruno believes and the facts that Shmuel gives him. He stays stubborn to his beliefs and thinks that Shmuel must be lying for some reason. However he does not go too much further into this as he does not want to lose his only friend.

Turning Points The main key turning point in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas would have to be in the beginning of the novel. In page three to be precise, when Brunos mother tells Bruno that we all are. Your father and I, Gretel and you. All four of us are going away. (P3).This change takes the entire family form their house in Berlin and moves them to the concentration camp in Auschwitz because of the fathers accumulation of ranks within the German military. Although this change happens so very early on within the novel it is fundamental to how the story takes shape as well as how the plot twists and turns as the story develops. The impact of this change is so important because it is the setup of their move to Auschwitz and with that the events that unfurl. As the entirety of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is about how Bruno reacts to this sudden change of scene and situation. This move is so key because of its impacts on the novel from this move sparks a chain reaction that was almost inevitable when placing a small bored child with a love of exploration next to a Nazi concentration camp. At the beginning this move only frustrates and annoys Bruno as it inconveniences his plans. Which as a small boy are playing with his friends and having fun. However it is when his frustration turns into boredom that the plot really starts to develop because of the move and the fact that it was specifically to the concentration camp Auschwitz and not anywhere else. For if it where anywhere else it would not have mattered however because Bruno specifically moved to Auschwitz is why he met Shmuel (which becomes another key turning point (on page 106 in the middle of the book), from the meeting of Shmuel he develops something to pick away at the boredom and gets in too deep. This turning point also affects Shmuel in that it brings new lease on his life in that he gains a new friend and he learns what it is like to be happy again after what seems like an age of pain to him. A third important turning point to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is in the end of the novel on page 192 when the father gets a sudden realisation that shes absolutely right. Youve been here long enough as it is. Its time for you to go home. (Ch17P192). This third key turning point also comes in the form of a change of setting. It is because of this decision to move back to Berlin that Bruno feels the need spend one last time with his friend Shmuel on the other side of the fence. Because of this ends the tale of Bruno, as he loses his life to the final turn of the novel.

Minor Characters A minor character is a person within the novel that influences the main character. Minor characters normally have a specific section in the novel where they are regularly seen, for example in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas chapter three is all about Gretels relation to Bruno and chapter six is all about the maid. Most minor characters have somewhat small roles to play in relation to the entirety of the novel; however some do influence the main character in his/her opinions and knowledge. Knowledge especially in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as Bruno has a lot to learn and is surrounded by people that tell and teach him a whole range of things even though the majority of the time it makes him more confused than when he did not know anything at all. But kept with their own kind too. Replied Gretel What do you mean their own kind? questioned Bruno (Ch16P182) This is one of many good examples of a minor character attempting to teach Bruno although he does not quite understand and gets out of it more confused than wiser. Gretel is an important minor character in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. As the sister of Bruno she spends quite a lot of time in the novel and she also attempts to teach Bruno more about the people on the other side of the fence. Although Brunos feelings and thoughts towards Gretel are mostly negative he does see her as his sister and eventually does not mind that she annoys him a lot. Gretel is also important as without her Bruno would be a lone child and would have a very different phycology because of that. Gretel as a person tries to act very mature and speaks down to Bruno because of his youth. Youre nine, countered Gretel. How would you know? When you get to my age youll understand (34). This quote shows how much smarter Gretel thinks she is compared to Bruno through the way she talks down to him. As the book takes to the eyes of Bruno everything Gretel does seems very annoyingly bossy and demeaning because of the sibling rivalry between the two. The main characters view of Gretel is that she is hopeless and annoying. Because of the perspective from which the reader sees everything in the book it is very easy to see how Bruno could think this as she always seems to be demeaning to Bruno whilst sucking up to people that are older than her. In The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas it is not the fact that Bruno sees Gretel in a different light to everyone else it is that Gretel treats Bruno differently to everyone else. The reader can imagine that if put in someone elses view Gretel would act differently and thus she would be seen as kind and polite if not a bit too much of a suck up.

Details It is difficult to say what the most important object prop or tool is in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as there are quite a few important ones and a lot of ones that develop the plot albeit they are a little less important. The house for example is of great importance as without it there would be no change or reason for outdoor exploring. The swing tire was useful to the plot and to learning the nature of the people across the fence. Alas the final object is of the greatest importance throughout the whole novel causing the most questions, confusion and division; it has to be that the fence is the most important object in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The fence is described as a huge wire fence that ran along the length of the house and turned in at the top, extending along in either direction, further than she could possibly see. The fence was very high, higher than the house they were standing in, and there were huge wooden posts, like telegraph poles, dotted along it, holding it up. At the top of the fence enormous bales of barbed wire were tangled in spirals, and Gretel felt an unexpected pain inside her as she looked at the sharp spikes sticking out all the way round it (3132). This long description of the fence makes it seem very imposing and scary creating tension, and questions of where they were from Bruno. The fence is the most important object in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as it gives the reader fear as they realise where Bruno has ended up. It also raises a lot of curiosity from Bruno as he wishes to play with the people on the other side of the fence, as well as learn what they are doing there? And why they are all wearing striped pyjamas? The fence is what separates two different lives in the book and is what the whole idea of the novel is based around. Throughout the book the fence is looming just next door and it creates a very sinister vibe throughout a very innocent book. The fence also seems endless from its description which leads the reader and Bruno into a false sense that it in fact is not there to keep the Jews in but rather it is simply a wall between to different styles of life. It is a separation of the sad skinny grim people in the striped pyjamas and the vibrant, rosy cheeked soldiers in their fancy uniforms. The Protagonist is forced to move to Auschwitz because of this fence and remains in a state of interest towards it throughout the novel. Bruno never really completely understands what the fence is there for or what it symbolizes, but he develops an understanding of what it separates after he finally does enter it.

The Author and the Ending In order to write this book the author would have had to have knowledge into the treatment of people in concentration camps. He would also have had to have a very vivid and inspired imagination to think up the relatively simple idea of seeing concentration camps through the eyes of a 9 year old. Finally the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (John Boyne) would have had to have known to very slowly trickle in information leaving a lot of blank spots or under complicated answers to questions, this sucks the reader in and makes them feel as a boy of this age would in such an environment. There are not many things John Boyne would have to know in order to write The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas however there would be a lot to do particularly in the writing style, for it is only because John Boyne achieved to write in such a manner that the book is so great. As a young boy Bruno observes a lot of things. This requires John Boyne to be very thorough and specific on his research to be able to give full details yet not to thorough in his writing or else it would break down the barrier of ignorance. As a reader, one believes that John Boyne would write such a book to create a new refreshing take on the terrible incurrences that happened in those cruel years. His mind is truly inspired in the way that he has written it. This reader believes John Boyne is trying to send a message out through his book and this reader believes that the message would be something like Sometimes we follow rather than think because to obey in the false pretence ignorance is easier than to question. This reader believes this statement rings true as although all the adults in this novel know what is going on they still do not choose to question the moral side of their actions. However Bruno on the other hand questions everything even though he is the one that is not morally developed. This reader was given a spoiler of the ending before this reader even began the book. However if this reader did not know of the ending before it happened this reader believes that he would think that the ending would have to go out with a bang, something big although maybe not quite so big as the original ending. There are just endless possibilities for the reader to expect. Although just about anything could have happened in the ending this reader believes that the one John Boyne went for is necessary for the message of the story. This reader believes that the reader expectations are very high in this book as it is quite a slow almost contemporary fiction novel that this reader always believed would end in excitement. This reader believes these expectations are important to this book as all endings end in either victory to the sinister or the ignorant/innocent as this whole book was a battle between the two.