Reflection on the Film "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"

“I think I've always been here” – The boy with striped pajamas The film The Boy in Striped Pajamas comes from the novel which is written by an Irish novelist, John Boyne. It is a fable which captures a hint of the holocaust and depicts the real history which for instance contains prejudice, bias and discrimination. But it still has a great impact on my emotions. The movie portrays the innocent mind of a German boy called Bruno who relocates from an ideal wealth of life in Germany to a house next to the Concentration Camp of Auschwitz where his father has been chosen to work as a Nazi commander. After that he encounters Shmuel, a boy with striped pajamas, due to an unexpected exploration. From here, the stories between two boys from different places, different races begin. In the movie, I can easily distinct what the mood is through the cinematography, music and the tone of the actor voice. Different from the novel, the movie adds up more visual element in order to interpret the brutality and cruelty of the Nazi party, the ignorance and the boundless friendship between two boys and the unconsciousness of the common German people whom are deceived by the Nazi government. Throughout the entire movie, a saying from Bruno’s father provokes my thoughts of how Jewish people were treated during WWII. 'Those people... well, they're not people at all, Bruno.' When Bruno asks Father about the Jews he has seen living on the other side of the fence, Father urges him not to worry about them or try to understand them. In this quotation, he offers the explanation for how the Nazis were able to carry out such atrocities against the Jews: they convinced themselves that they were not people, and therefore were not entitled to basic human rights or even to life. Also, Bruno’s father employs a home-teacher for both Bruno and his sister, however, the teacher only imparts the “knowledge” which promotes the German nationalism and the hatred of Jews.

This actually changes the personality and the mind of Bruno’s sister. Unlike his sister, Bruno is a free spirit and at such a young age he considers his own thoughts over others. He makes a swing for him although he gets hurt at the end; He finds his own ways to overcome the boredom at his new house; He was given all the freedom he wants within the household but he tries his best to accompany with the little Jewish boy he met, although he was not allowed to cross the door. He is brave but ignorant. In his first conversation with Shmuel, Bruno reveals how little he understands about the situation at Auschwitz. 'It's so unfair. I don't see why I have to be stuck over here on this side of the fence where there's no one to talk to and no one to play with and you get to have dozens of friends and are probably playing for hours every day. I'll have to speak to Father about it.' Growing up in an idealized family, he is under the full protection of his parents and preserves almost nothing towards the outside world. When he met Shmuel working in his house, he was shocked, because in his mind every Jewish workers are provide with good quality of working condition. And after Shmuel told him they actually experience the life without safety, rights and happiness, Bruno however worries and questions Shmuel about these because of the good conditions they have been subjected to in their lives. As the time passed, the conflict occurs when Shmuel is cursed to be thief who stole the bread from the master’s house. However, Bruno does not even speak a word for him. This forces Shmuel to accept the harsh punishment without any choices. But, this friendship continues because of Bruno’s apology. At this time, there is a sense of equality which comes with the friendship as well. Because Bruno treats him as his real friends without any kind of discrimination and superiority. Connecting with the novel, both Bruno and Shmuel share the same birthday uses the symbolism of equality between the two, as well as their gender. It symbolizes that two boys of the same gender and age have so very different lives all depending on their race, which they cannot change, and their friendship is a symbol of equality, and that it isn’t impossible to like someone even though the rest of society doesn’t. It is evident that the theme of friendship is involved and how the theme of equality among the races is shown. Furthermore, another important theme in the novel is boundaries. There are two kinds: literal and figurative. The literal boundaries include the fence. This separated Bruno and Shmuel and is how Bruno found Shmuel while exploring.

Another type of boundary is a figurative boundary, which, unlike a literal boundary, it isn’t physically there. A prime example is innocence in general and social segregation. It is something that is slowly overcome but is always going to be there, as nobody knows everything. It is therefore evident that there are boundaries and segregation throughout the whole movie. In conclusion, the movie establishes a depressive atmosphere until the death of these two boys. It emphasizes the terrors of the Holocaust and the innocence between the two boys while showing humans capacity for inhumanity and indifference by distorting his composition in order to reveal. If we are going to judge the movie based on a historical perspective, it accurately reflects the real history of holocaust and how people experience throughout the world war. Obviously, both the book and the further movie criticize the atrocities that were done by Nazi Party during world wars. However, what’s more important is the hope of engraving this history on minds and yearning for the world without wars. . At last, the title of the essay is actually the poor Jewish servant – Pavel's answer to Bruno when the young boy asks him how long he has been at Auschwitz. He was a doctor, and has been stripped not only of his profession, but of his humanity, and his resignation to his fate is clear in this answer. He will stay in the “farm” with striped pajamas until his death. Yet, this quote is also suitable for an overall theme of the story. Because it not only describes the destiny of an unfortunate ethnic group, but also the friendship build up during wars. Yes, I’ve always been there, been there if you need me…