In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is that friends can come from the most unlikely of places. Even during such a horrible time period, if people put what little differences they have to the side, I think that anybody can become friends. They seem like they are going to become good friends because they aren't arguing and they seem more interested in what they have in common such as football and becoming friends.
At first, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel is tenuous because they don't know each other very well and have not developed a trusting and friendly relationship. Boyne shows us this with this quote, "'Hello,' said Bruno. 'Hello,'" said the boy." To me they seemed cautious but mostly just curious. These were the first words the two boys spoke to each other so I feel this is when their relationship is the most fragile because they don't know anything about each other.
Later, they are starting to become very good friends and have been having fun and talking almost every day. This makes me think that they are going to end up being the kind of friends that tell each other everything, share everything and have no secrets. The author shows us this with, "'I'm sorry, Shmuel,' he said quickly. 'I should have given you some chicken too. Are you hungry?'" This shows that Bruno truly cares about Shmuel and wants him to feel good and not hungry. This quote is from when Shmuel is in the house polishing glasses and Bruno stumbles across him in the kitchen. Interestingly, in this scene we see the pressure the relationship is under when Lieutenant Kotler catches Shmuel eating and Bruno denies knowing Shmuel at all. I think this is because Bruno is scared of being told off by the Lieutenant. To me this is an interesting part of the story because it shows their relationship is getting stronger and they are starting to care about each other a lot more, however there are still some fissures in their relationship that need filling. For example there is a point in the middle of the book where Herr Lizst's lessons change Bruno's point of view and he leaves early during one of their fenceline conversations when Shmuel says he is a Jew. Bruno later realises that he doesn't care that Shmuel is Jewish and changes his mind again.
At the end of the novel, we see that they now fully trust each other and they see each other as best friends. Unfortunately, this very trust led to their tragic demise. John Boyne shows us this with, "Of course, I wouldn't let you down." This shows that Bruno is fully committed to finding Shmuel's Papa. They are unaware however, that his Papa was probably a pile of ash. Because of Bruno and Shmuel's blindness and trusting friendship, they do nothing to stop themselves from being rounded up and thrown into a gas chamber. Although of course there is nothing they could have done to stop it. I thought of two reasons for this. Firstly, they didn't have any idea that they were being led to their deaths. However, if they had realised and Bruno said that he wasn't Jewish and that his father was the manager of the camp I don't think the soldiers would have believed him and they would have put them into the chamber anyway; Secondly, if they had believed him even for a second they might have been too scared about wasting a superior officer's time and would have thrown them in anyway. To me this is a sad moment in the story because it truly means that there is nothing the boys could have done to prevent their deaths.
Throughout the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from being normal and innocent to being the best of friends due to being together so often and getting along from day one (with some exceptions for their arguments). This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, that friends can come from the most unlikely of places. In my opinion, the novel is a great way of educating people on how the war might have unfolded from a different perspective to what they might be used to and showing how a friendship can come from nothing, if you like that person and get along well with them. It doesn't matter what is going on around them with the war and politics because they are just interested in each other as human beings.
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