As I was reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, there was a particular seen that gave me a better understanding of Bruno’s father’s job. As I mentioned in my previous post, I mentioned that Bruno doesn’t know what his father does for a living but he knows that it is very important. This scene really changed how I saw how important his father’s job was. At first, I thought that his father may have worked an important job such as a banker or a diplot. I thought this because his job required his family to move very frequently. After I read this scene, I learned that his father’s job was way more important. I learned that his father worked for the German military and that he is high ranked. I suspect this because the person that walked out of his father’s office was a soldier. And another reason I suspect this is because where they moved is right next to a concentration camp. The scene in the book is, “The door opened wider and Bruno stepped back as a figure
appeared, but it wasn’t Father. It was a much younger man, and
not as tall as Father either, but he wore the same type of uniform,
only without as many decorations on it. He looked very serious
and his cap was secured tightly on his head. Around his temples
Bruno could see that he had very blond hair, an almost unnatural
shade of yellow. He was carrying a box in his hands and walking
towards the staircase, but he stopped for a moment when he saw
Bruno standing there watching him. He looked the boy up and
down as if he had never seen a child before and wasn’t quite sure
what he was supposed to do with one: eat it, ignore it or kick it
down the stairs. Instead he gave Bruno a quick nod and continued
on his way. “Who was that?’ asked Bruno. The young man had seemed so serious and busy that he assumed he must be someone very important.” This scene shows that his father’s job is very important. This scene also helps me confirm his father works for the military because it says the man was less decorated than his father which means his father has done many good things for the military. The language that made this scene effective was that it said “He looked very serious and his cap was secured tightly on his head.”