The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

When I read a depressing book, the feeling seems to subtly set a gloomy damper over the rest of my day.  Needless to say, I typically stray from reading any book of the heart breaking realm.  That being said, you may find it surprising that I chose to read one of the saddest and most devastating novels from one of the most horrifying and disturbing times in the history of the world.  I was surprised too.  I never saw myself reading by choice a book about the Holocaust.  When I started The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I had no idea what it was about.  I was in a frenzied hurry to find a book from the local library before it closed; I did not want to be a burden or that “one customer” who after close never seemed to leave, so I literally grabbed the book off the shelf.  One of my friends had read it and recommended it; however, she failed to explain the plot or setting.  I set off blindly reading a book I knew nothing about, and was I ever in for a surprise.

The point of view in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas struck me because I had never heard the story from that vantage point.  The whole story is told in third person with a focus on the son of a Nazi commander.  Being only nine, the young boy, Bruno, does not understand the gravity of the situation right under his nose; his father is the commander at a concentration camp no more than 50 yards away from his home in Poland.  It creates a sense of dramatic irony since the reader understands the horror and disturbing situation, but little Bruno in his childish ignorance does not comprehend the appalling situation.  Piece by piece, Bruno attempts to frustratingly develop a small understanding from what he has seen and the little adults will share with him. 

The absolutely astonishing contrast between Bruno and Shmuel takes the spot light in the story.  Shmuel is a young Jewish boy in a concentration camp, and Bruno is the son of a Nazi commander.  It’s mind-blowing to see the next generation of the opposing forces becoming good friends.  To see the son of a Nazi officer and a young Jewish boy sit for hours and talk through a fence that draws a line between their worlds, lives, and fates.  It’s truly a heart-wrenching, incredibly touching, and unbearably painful story that recreates all of the horror and inhumanities of the Holocaust through the eyes of a little boy.

Although it was easily the saddest and most painful book I have ever read, I can honestly say that it was exceptionally powerful and definitely worth reading.