THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS

- Tiasa 

Author: John Boyne

Genre: Historical fiction

Introduction: The Boy in the striped Pyjamas is a novel set in Nazi-occupied Germany and Poland in the 1940s during World War II, exploring themes of innocence, friendship as well as racial discrimination, prejudice and its devastating impacts.

Synopsis: Bruno, a nine year old boy is an innocent and honest child who is happy living in Berlin, until his family was forced to vacate their place and move to a new destination which was alien to him. He starts exploring a lot. While exploring the area, he befriends Shmuel, a Jew, a prisoner at the concentration camp from the other side of the fence, who wears striped pyjamas.This book highlights racial discrimination through the lens of the Holocaust, specifically focusing on the Nazi regime's persecution of Jewish people.Through Shmuels's experiences it reveals the horrors of this discrimination through the forced separation of families, the dehumanizing conditions in concentration camps, and the systematic violence against Jewish people. As their friendship grows, their innocence leads to devastating consequences.

This is Holocaust from a child’s perspective.

The biggest irony lies in the friendship between Bruno, the son of the concentration camp commandant(who had extreme hatred for Jews), and Shmuel, a Jewish prisoner. The two boys formed a bond that transcended the hatred and prejudice that surrounded them, which shows their innocence and how their social differences never affected their friendship. 

Children's innocence lets them see beyond racial differences, embracing love and friendship freely, while many adults often internalize prejudice because that's the way they were taught.

This is an example from history, but to this day, we see communal conflicts claiming hundreds of lives all over India and the world. Even today can we not think outside our race, caste and class? Can we break free from these ingrained biases and see humanity beyond the artificial boundaries of race, caste and class?