Monthly Archives: October 2009

The boy in the striped pyjamas

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Bevor

John told me to read this book, about 2 years ago but said:  I shouldn’t tell you anything about it because it will spoil it!

Erste

The characters are well drawn and their troubles are delicately constructed. The moral and personal questions are difficult and vivid. The simple sentences keep us working to develop a more elaborate understanding, as we do when listening to a child’s testimony. But, because it is not  explicit,  the book is brutal on the reader. The writing is so precise that it hints at allegorical interpretations.

The principal character, Bruno, is described as a 10 year old but behaves and thinks more like a 7 year old.  Is this a hint at the infantilising effect of well-meaning authoritarian government?

In 1942, was the word ‘Furie’ really more likely to be in a German boy’s vocabulary than ‘Fuhrer’? Has the Commandant’s family managed to keep his work and politics  completely separate from the children’s world? Is this an author’s fancy or an intentional warning?

Similarly, the play on the name of the camp (Out-with translates as aus mit, hinting of Auschwitz) hints that its identity important, but is inconsistent with the presence of children and the activity of the detainees.

The final paragraph clumsily tries to warn that our society might become like Hitler’s.  However, although the characters are believable, the historical errors jar and undercut any inferences about communities.

Zweite

R (10) found the book and is reading it! I would not have encouraged a child to read this book, both because the evil context is confronting, and because much of the story is indirectly implied and probably difficult to access. Ri’s questions during reading were:

  • Who is the Fury?
  • Why is he called Fury?
  • Was that real?
  • What happened to Bruno and Schmuel in the end?

Dritte

R’s sisters (12, 14) have both read the Pyjamas. The elder is explaining some of the less explicit plot points.

Vierte

R discovers (via Google) that a film has been made. Can we go and see it? Perhaps a war/holocaust thriller/drama is not suitable viewing for a 10 year old.

R watches the trailer.  (PG-13)

R watches the film piecemeal in Youtube. (Note that related videos include some pretty ‘strong’ material about the holocaust.)

R re-reads the book. R tells me about differences between the book and the film. R and sisters agree that Bruno is more realistically described as 8 years old in the film, as he behaves much younger than 10.

R explores the question of why people accepted Hitler and a violent government. We are now having an unplanned Civics and Citizenship lesson.

  • Did the Jews start the second world war?
  • Who started the war?
  • Wouldn’t it have been more useful to treat the detainees better so they could do more work?
  • Do we have concentration camps?
  • Were Australia’s Native Reserves concentration camps?
  • Who invented concentration camps?
  • Why did they try to get rid of the Jews?
  • Why don’t people want boat people to come to Australia?

Erinnerungen

I am David (Ann Holm) had a similar significance for me at the age of 12, albeit without film tie-in and with Encyclopedia Britannica instead of Google.

Referenzen