Surprised or Puzzled? – Is there something that surprises you that does not appear to fit in the text? Explain why you feel this way. Discuss why something doesn’t make sense to you or why your views might be different from the author’s intended purpose.
In the book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Hitler is never referred to by his name. Bruno refers to Hitler as “the Fury.” The reader has to assume that “the Fury” is Hitler because the characters all show him a lot of respect, and Bruno’s father has many rules for Bruno and Gretel when “the Fury” comes to dinner. Bruno even says, “He had dark hair, which was cut quite short, and a tiny moustache-so tiny in fact that Bruno wondered why he bothered with it at all or whether he had simply forgotten a piece when he was shaving.” (Boyne 122) The Fury is also the man who gives Bruno’s father the promotion which then leads the family to leave Berlin. I am surprised that they don’t use his real name and even more surprised that Bruno calls him Fury because I haven’t heard that name for Hitler before. “Fury” means wild or crazy, so the name would fit. After Gretel told him that she could speak French, he responded, “Yes, but why would you want to?” (page 122) It made everyone in the room uncomfortable and then, “The matter was resolved quickly, however, as the Fury who was the rudest guest Bruno had ever witnessed, turned round and walked directly into the dining room and promptly sat down at the head of the table-in Father’s seat!-without another word.” (page 122) Since the word “fury” has a negative meaning, it makes sense that Bruno calls him that because Bruno thinks the man is rude, and this same man is the reason Bruno has to leave his happy life in Berlin. Because “the Fury” brings so many bad life changes for Bruno and his family, it seems like “the Fury” is a good name then. However, Hitler was actually called Fuehrer which in German means “leader” or “guide.” It was a title of respect. So perhaps Bruno had problems with pronunciation or understanding some words properly. Then this made think about why Bruno calls the camp “Out With.” Maybe he doesn’t pronounce this word properly either, but “aus” in German means “out” and “schwitz” means “to sweat or sweat.” So Auschwitz means “out sweat or sweat out.” I looked in the internet to see if maybe it has another meaning and it says that it is also yiddish for “shvitz.” A “shvitz” is a traditional Jewish steambath of Eastern European origin. Therefore, “Auschwitz” means big steambath or sauna. The Germans even referred to one of the buildings as “die zentrale Sauna,” or Central Sauna. (scrapbook.com)