4/24/20 Post 4 Finale

 

After Bruno had entered the camp disguised as an inmate to help Shmuel find his father, they were ordered on what Shmuel believed was a march. They were marched into a room. When Bruno was trying to recall his friends’ faces back in Berlin when they moved over a year ago to no avail, he said “‘Actually,’ he said, looking down at Shmuel, ‘it doesn’t matter whether I do or don’t. They’re not my best friends any more anyway.’ He looked down and did something quite out of character for him: he took hold of Shmuel’s tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly. ‘You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life.’ Shmuel may well have opened his mouth to say something back, but Bruno never heard it because at that moment there was a loud gasp from all the marchers who had filled the room, as the door at the front was suddenly closed and a loud metallic sound rang through from the outside. Bruno raised an eyebrow, unable to make sense of all this, but he assumed that it had something to do with keeping the rain out and stopping people from catching colds. And then the room went very dark and somehow, despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go.” (pgs 213 & 214) Then, the chapter ends, with the immediate consecutive sentence(In the last chapter) saying that no one ever heard from Bruno again. There is sufficient evidence in this quote to conclude that Bruno was gased or cremated afterwards, no one knowing that he was really the son of a Nazi commandant.

Bruno was born to a father with Nazi origins, and though he was so different from Shmuel in terms of circumstances, they really were not too different in person. The fact that Bruno and Shmuel could bond so intimately means that really no barriers, even barriers to knowing, could stop two people from showing love for each other. Even at the last moment, Bruno believed the chamber was to prevent people from getting sick by being too cold from the rain, and yet they still held hands and nothing would have persuaded him to let it go. That same kind of feeling might be felt between a mother and a child during an earthquake, or two sisters in a shooting, the close bonding that happens between people who are different but not in person when it boils down to the heart of humanity: People need each other. It shows how much Bruno and Shmuel have in common with each other, even though their opinions, conditions, appearance, and other aspects have been manipulated by their environment, and how they are able to connect with each other, like they gradually and always have since they met, the bridge to each other, leading all the way up to the climax of their connection to each other as humans. The fence was taken down between Shmuel(A jew, deemed bad) and Bruno(a “proper” German, deemed good) when they had begun opening their worlds to each other since they met, but it was really taken down in this last moment. Bruno, though similar in circumstances to his friends in Berlin, were pretty different in person in being that they didn’t really need each other. They were casual friends. In times of human struggle and pain, Bruno alleviated Shmuel as Shmuel did to Bruno. How did humans survive the dark, cold, dangerous, unpredictable NIGHTS in the ancient times when we had nothing but ourselves? With each other, no matter their origins.

4/19/20 Post 3 -Friday

Note: Previously, I had read the recommended 50-70 pages for both blog post 1 & 2, accumulatively reaching Chapter 10(page 104). However, since then I have read much farther ahead and have now completed the book as of now. Knowing that there are only two blog posts remaining to do(this one included), as the other two of four have been completed(Posts 1 and 2), I will divide it in almost half as much as wanted, but there may be a leap in information.

This is analysis of parts of relevant information(because otherwise it might be too much to fit into all one blog post, and one topic might not suffice, I have read all of the information in the book) from page 104 up to page 161(Chapter 15):

Bruno solves the problem of not being able to pursue his passion of exploring indoors by exploring outdoors. As he does so, he follows the fence that separates the humans(Jews) from other humans(“other” Germans) up to a point where he encounters a Jewish Pole named Shmuel.

It is clear that Shmuel is a protagonist, as he is one of the inmates of the concentration camp and is certainly not a member of the Nazis. He has no malicious intent towards any of the other characters in the book, besides of course the fairly or unfairly placed undying and underlying anger towards the people who put him in the camp. Physically, he is in similar condition to most of the other prisoners. His hands are very bonelike, his body is on the thin side, his head is shaved, he is in striped pajamas, and he is consistently hungry.

Shmuel, plot-wise, is a very important character. He is the only reason why Bruno accepts and begins to see good in his new home here, which gradually leads Bruno to do what he did at the end of the book(But ah ah ah! I cannot say anything about that…). However, more importantly, Shmuel is the portal to the reality of the camp, that really gnaws at the barriers to knowing for Bruno. Shmuel is really what opens up the fence(figuratively, and towards the end, literally) and allows the differences between his life and Bruno’s to be exchanged. Shmuel is also the most accurate representation(not necessarily for comprehension) of what the camp was like, as his ongoing experience of the camp is not distorted in anyway like they might be via expression with words. That is also why it is the most accurate representation but not necessarily comprehension.

When Bruno had accidentally let the cat out of the bag when his tongue slipped and said he was going to see Shmuel(whom no one at the time knew Bruno had a friend as), Gretel inquired as to who this “Shmuel” friend is.(The name Shmuel was not very heard of in Bruno’s family, he himself found himself satisfied by the sound of its pronunciation) Bruno quickly got himself out of the situation with his acting skills and wit, saying that he was an imaginary friend, and then going on to describe how Shmuel actually was. As part of his description, Bruno said,”‘And yesterday he told me that his grandfather hasn’t been seen for days and no one knows where he is and whenever he asks his father about him he starts crying and hugs him so hard that he’s worried he’s going to squeeze him to death.’ Bruno got to the end of his sentence and realized that his voice had gone very quiet. These were things that Shmuel had told him, but for some reason he hadn’t really understood at the time how sad that must have made his friend. When Bruno said them out loud himself he felt terrible that he hadn’t tried to say anything to cheer Shmuel up and instead had started talking about something silly, like exploring. I’ll say sorry for that tomorrow, he told himself.”(pg 158)

This is just one of many examples where Bruno shows his unfortunate lack of knowledge and understanding of the whole Nazi campaign, and what his father does for a living(In fact, in one scene, he does say to Shmuel that when he grows up, he wants to be a soldier, just like his father). What Shmuel had told Bruno was also just one of the many inhumane things that Shmuel and other prisoners had to face under the camp conditions. The guilt Bruno feels after saying just that one aspect and even wanting to apologize for that the day after only further proves, once being able to get past not knowing it in the first place, his slow time to digest the information, as he has to process what Shmuel described by first hearing it verbally, then processing by thought, and then doing it again when he says it aloud himself.  This only goes to show how important Shmuel is as a barrier-remover.

Considering his circumstances, Shmuel also behaves much better than he should deserve to. He is careful with what he says to Bruno regarding how he feels about the Nazi, even though Bruno is the son of a Nazi officer. Shmuel has been treated horribly and been subjected to horrendous atrocities(as said before in another post, the term atrocity loses its meaning too many times when describing an event like the Holocaust), and yet he does not go on to shout and argue with Bruno, to retaliate fiercely when Bruno shows his barriers to knowing and say things that do not sit well with Shmuel’s ears. Shmuel, despite being a victim himself, tries to understand what goes on inside the minds of the people who live on the other side of the fence. Though it was hard to realize at the time, Shmuel did the right thing, as in doing so, he discovered that barriers to knowing is what caused Bruno and others like him to be the way he is. That Bruno, in a way, is a victim of the lack of knowledge and understanding he has, and has thus been made into a person who is both a bystander and perpetrator. Bruno is no different from Shmuel in how understanding of another side they both want to be, but when placed under different circumstances, they turn out to be very different in their thinking as a result, even more emphasizing the point of how significant a character Shmuel is as a bridge.

 

 

 

Post 2

 

When Bruno gets irritated with how horrible his situation was to him, he tried to dissipate that energy by asking Maria, the maid, if she agreed that the new place they moved to was terrible. After trying to choose a careful response, for she doesn’t want to say something wrong, she says her opinion doesn’t matter. Bruno responds with, “Of course it’s important…you’re part of the family, aren’t you?” Maria says: “I’m not sure whether your father would agree with that.” This illustrates that Bruno believes Maria is part of the family, talking to her casually, while her family doesn’t.

However, when he mutters under his breath, “Stupid Father!” expressing momentary extreme hatred for his father, a whole new complexity of the people he thought he knew so well is revealed. Maria strongly says that he cannot speak of his father like that because his father is a good man, taking care of them.

Maria then tells of how much Bruno’s father did for her and her mother, treating them like they were family, like Maria was family, yet Bruno’s father calls Maria an overpaid maid and is a nazi officer himself, who helps in committing thousands of Jews to their sufferings. What drives Bruno’s father to allow the Holocaust and yet be a caring person for Maria, even so, he doesn’t consider very highly? His father must have really shown Maria much care and love for Maria, a servant who believes she is nothing more than a maid whose opinion doesn’t matter herself, to fiercely defend Bruno’s father.

Later, Gretel runs in and asks Maria very rudely to fill up a bath, proving that Gretel believes Maria is just a maid. Bruno’s automatic reaction to Maria from when Maria was very first introduced when he was young was to treat her like a family member, while everyone else in his family sees Maria for what they think she is; a maid. Bruno’s instinct to see someone for more than what they are listed as might probably be an important trait that comes into play later, when he meets the “boy in striped pajamas!”

His father’s complexity also plays a major role in helping to determine his place in perpetrator, bystander, victim, up stander, and ally Venn diagram categorization.

 

Post 1

“‘I don’t understand,’ said Gretel. ‘Who would build such a nasty-looking place?’…’No,’ replied Gretel. She stood still for a long time staring at them[the huts]. She was twelve years old and considered to be one of the brightest girls in her class…and forced her brain to understand what she was looking at. Finally she could think of only one explanation. ‘This must be the countryside,’ said Gretel…” (pg 33)

This was said after Bruno, the main character, showed his older sister, Gretel, his view from the window. Bruno and his German family moved from their five-story home in Berlin to this house next to Auschwitz because his father, got promoted. However, Bruno and Gretel barely know anything about their father’s occupation, who works for the Nazi(but they don’t know that). The place Gretel refers to in this quote is the Auschwitz camp, which they(Gretel and Bruno) see as rows and rows of huts filled with people in striped pajamas. There are numerous sections of the reading that show the lack of knowledge Bruno and Gretel have about the Nazi and their father’s work, but this quote stands out because even a Nazi officer’s daughter questions the purpose in the existence of such a concentration camp, asking who would build such a nasty-looking place? However, what really makes this quote significant is that Gretel, who is already twelve years old, and is considered one of the brightest girls in her class, concludes with only one explanation for what Auschwitz is. It is the countryside. When modern humans look back at Hitler’s reign, we see how much difference there is between countryside and Auschwitz, yet a very bright girl barely sees any, even more so giving an idea of how little Gretel knows about the camps and what the Nazi are doing, and what her own father is doing. People lament over instances when people know but fail to believe in time and here is someone who, if anything, should know more about the Nazi’s nature than average Germans, but neither knows nor believes.