The book The Boy in The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, the main theme is friendship. Burno has moved into a new place, and had to leave all his old friends behind. With his friends from Berlin, they loved playing together and fooling around, and that he thought was the greatest friendship in the world.  Then he met Shmuel. When Bruno first met him, it opened Bruno’s eyes. He had never met a jew, but they instantly connected.  Shmuel and Bruno start meeting every day and talking. Bruno tells Shmuel about his life and complaints about how it is horrible and that he had so many problems. Shmuel listens to Bruno and tells him about what his life is like in the concentration camp. Bruno doesn’t understand what a concentration camp is, or what it is like. As Bruno listens to Shuel talking about his life, it makes him realize that some of his problems are very foolish. They had opposites life, and they did not fully understand how and why, but they still became each other person that they relied on, even though they had never even seen each other without a fence in between.

Everyone in Bruno’s family hates jews. His dad is a Nazi soldier, and tells him that Jews “aren’t people at all”. Bruno goes on to be friends with Shmuel and not caring about their differences.  Shmuel and Bruno learn that they are very similar, but Shmuel did not get nearly as lucky as Bruno. Everyday Bruno goes to talk to Shmuel and sometimes even brings some extra food. When Shmuel could not find his father, Bruno wanted to do everything possible to help. Bruno knew he could not cross the fence, he knew he could not talk to Shmuel, but he would do anything for his best friend. Even risk his own life and die beside him.

The book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, follows the story of a nine-year-old german boy named Bruno, whose dad is a nazi soldier. Bruno is an adventurous boy but does not know much about the war, or what his father does. When Shmuel comes into his life, everything shifts. Shmuel is a Jewish boot, who is the same age as Bruno, who is in the concentration camp. When Bruno was exploring, he found Shmuel sitting on the other side of the fence. Bruno, not knowing what a jew even is started talking to Shmuel. Bruno was not very happy with the move, and his largest problem was that he missed his friends. As both the boys talked, Bruno realized that maybe the new house was not so bad. Shmuel was a very important character in the book because it made Bruno open his eyes, and see how the world is not always he had seen it. Shmuel was going through a horrible thing but was still very nice to Bruno, and still listened to his problems. He was a best friend to Bruno and changed his life.

As the book continues, Bruno is not very happy with the move. He mostly does not know what is going on. One day he desires to explore, and he finds a small boy sitting on the other side of the fence. The boy was skinny and very pale. Bruno was confused as to why he was wearing the same striped pajamas as all the others on the other side of the fence. As Bruno talks to the boy, he does not understand that he is a Jew in a concentration camp. They talk, and Bruno compares their life. It makes me feel very sad, that Bruno, goes on with his life, while his dad is doing something horrible, and Bruno has no idea

“A Boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne, is about this german family, who lives in Berlin, and is forced to move because of the father’s, Ralf’s,  job. They moved near a Nazi death camp because Ralf was a Nazi.  The move forced Gretel and Bruno to leave all their friends, and they hated it. At that time Bruno, who is ten, has no idea what his father does and what the camp even is. All he’s thinking about is how mad he is about moving.

“We don’t have the luxury of thinking”. This quote is said by Bruno’s mom when he does like his new home. She knows why they had to move, and they did not have the choice to say no.  He feels only and isolated there, and wants to go back to his town with his friends. The quote tells us that the mom did not want to move, but had to.  The quote foreshadows all the bad things that are to come.