The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Book and Film :: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne

The book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne is about a young boy, Bruno, whose father is a soldier in the German army during WWII. Bruno lives with his parents and his older sister, Gretel. They live in a five story house in Berlin. He goes to school and has three best friends that he goes on adventures with. One day he comes home to find their maid packing his things. They move to a three story house in Germany because his dad was promoted and needs to be closer to his work. Bruno is getting really upset that he can no longer see his friends or his grandparents. He is stuck in his house and can’t explore as much as he would like because there is no one to explore with. He notices something out his window one day, a large fenced in area with little tiny dots moving. He asks his sister and maid Maria what they are but they don’t know. He decides one day that he is going to explore the fenced in area, so he leaves when no one is looking and explores it for about two hours walking up and down the fence looking for something. Finally he comes across I boy about the same size of him so he goes up and talks to him. The boy’s name is Shmuel and they are the same age. Bruno learns that he is stuck behind the fence and has nothing to wear but the striped pajamas. Bruno doesn’t understand why he is there but is told how awful it is behind the fence. One day when Shmuel gets sent to shine glasses at his house him and Bruno start talking. A soldier see them and Bruno told him he didn’t know who he was, and the soldier beats the boy, Bruno feels terrible and want to make it up to Shmuel. Bruno wants to understand why the life behind the fence is so awful and why Shmuel isn’t happy. Bruno thinks it’s not better, but interesting because there are other kids to play with. They form a strong bond that can't be broken by anything and it makes him realize that his friends in Berlin weren't as special as Shmuel is and their friendship. The two boys have been talking and have been friends for about a year and decide that Bruno wants to go on the other side of the fence to see what its like and help him find his papa.