Nazi Germany vs. Jews
To me, the broadest and most general conflict in this book is that between Nazi Germany and the Jews. The following essay wil show you more about this conflict.
Nazis versus the Jews. This is probably the most obvious conflict in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It is displayed in the concentration camp of Auschwitz (Out-With). The German soldiers were cruel and unusual in torturing the Jews, especially at Auschwitz. It is quite possibly one of the most appalling events that have ever occurred. There have been many stories and non-fiction book written about this dark period in the world's history. I think that this book did a good job of showing several different point of views.
The Nazis were lead by a man named Adolph Hitler. He was a power hungry tyrant. He ruled with great efficiency and tact. He rose from a nobody to a man that convinced an entire nation to hate a select group of people. These people were of course the Jews. No, the Jews were not the only target, but they were the main target for this extermination. The Jews were hated just because they were different. The scary thing is that, Adolph Hitler made an entire nation think that killing the Jews was okay. He didn't say it that way, but he convinced them that the Jews didn't need to live. How could a whole entire nation let this happen?
At the time, a large percentage of Germans were Jewish. Many of the business that helped communities were owned and ran by innocent, hard-working Jews. By eliminating all of the Jews, Hitler somewhat degraded the economy of his nation. He took away all of the commerce that the Jews brought to Germany. Even if they weren't being killed, many Jews were hiding in fear for their lives. This put a stop to a portion of the German economy, especially to the all-Jewish communities.
The German soldiers were “just following orders”. Even then, there is no excuse for what they did. Who has the right to decide who lives or dies. Obviously, Hitler thought he did. Maybe it was a mental affliction or something similar, because no normal human being would go off on such an indirect killing spree. It's not normal. But, maybe Hitler thought it was his right.
In the book, Shmuel and Bruno are gassed. This was one of the many different ways that the Germans disposed of the Jews. In fact, this was one of the more humane ways that they killed people. Other methods consisted of starvation, marching to death, shooting, working to death, and many other ways. It was utterly horrifying for people to go through. People that made it out alive were scarred for the rest of their lives. Many of the women were raped and brutally beaten, just because they were different.
One of Hitler's main goals was to create an elite race of humans. He thought that white skinned, blonde haired, and blued eyed people were the perfect model for his race. Jews did not fit that description, so he had them disposed of. There are many brown skinned, brown haired, brown eyed people that are just as good, if not better than the people that Hitler thought were perfect. That is just one example of the different varieties of people.
In the story, Bruno gets uncomfortable when Shmuel says that he is a Jew. Even though Bruno is too young to really notice the evil taking place, he knows that he shouldn't talk to Shmuel because he is a Jew. Hitler infected the children of Germany. They turned German children against Jewish children and their families. He tried to create an army out of the innocent. If Bruno would have went tot public school, he would have been exposed to the lies and brain-washing techniques of Hitler and the Nazi Party.
In Chapter 13, Pavel gets beat up by Lt. Kotler for accidentally spilling a bottle of wine on him. It was a complete accident. For one thing, Pavel was under-nourished and his whole body was shaking from a lack of food. Just because of a simple accident, he was nearly beaten to death. In today's society, Pavel would have been Lt. Kotler's elder and would have been respected and Lt. Kotler would probably be serving him. The most appalling thing was the fact that nobody, not even Father, the head of the house, stopped Lt. Kotler. He was allowed to beat a man for an accidental spill.
Pavel was a Jew and lived in Auschwitz. Because of that, he was treated like an animal. There was no other reason for that, other than the fact that he was a Jew. Just Because Pavel was a jew, born to a Jewish father and mother. That is an extreme amount of prejudice from the Nazis. Albert Einstein, one of the most intelligent men that ever lived, was a Jew. If he wouldn't have been a Jew, the Nazis would have had great pride in him. Because of the fact that he was a Jew, they wouldn't touch him. They were too good to mingle with the Jews.
The Nazis were some of the most narcissistic people that I have ever heard of. They were so in love with themselves that they hated people that weren't just like them in appearance and in societal status. If they weren't on the Nazi bandwagon, they were against it. That was their mentality. It was outrageous and egocentric to think that they were better than everybody else. Hitler himself didn't even fit his own idea of a perfect race. How can it be perfect if the leader doesn't even fit the criteria?
Even if they didn't do anything wrong, Jews were punished. They were kicked out of their homes for no reason. Then they were forced to walk to the concentration camp. After that they were slowly and painfully tortured. It's almost as if the Nazis enjoyed watching people feel pain. The Jews were involuntarily entered into a war in which they couldn't defend themselves from their enemy. It was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. You have the clear and unfair advantage. That is the exact situation that the Jews faced during WWII.
In this book, Bruno died because he was mistakenly taken into the gas chamber. He was the son of a high ranking officer. As the author noted, Bruno and Shmuel greatly resembled each other. Shmuel was a Jew and Bruno was a Nazi. What was the difference? Nothing. Just because Shmuel was born in the wrong place, at the wrong time, he ended up dying because of his heritage. Had Bruno not been in Auschwitz, he would have lived a life ease because he was born to a high ranking Nazi officer. This is completely unfair.
I know that this is a biased paper. I know that it clearly favors the Jews over the Nazis. That is because to me, what the Nazis did to the Jews was terrible and can never be healed. The things that happened during WWII cannot and should not be forgotten. Even though it was a fictional story, I think that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas does an extremely good job at portraying the conflict between the Nazis and the Jews. I think that it is a key part of the novel. That is why I decided to write about this conflict.
The Nazis were lead by a man named Adolph Hitler. He was a power hungry tyrant. He ruled with great efficiency and tact. He rose from a nobody to a man that convinced an entire nation to hate a select group of people. These people were of course the Jews. No, the Jews were not the only target, but they were the main target for this extermination. The Jews were hated just because they were different. The scary thing is that, Adolph Hitler made an entire nation think that killing the Jews was okay. He didn't say it that way, but he convinced them that the Jews didn't need to live. How could a whole entire nation let this happen?
At the time, a large percentage of Germans were Jewish. Many of the business that helped communities were owned and ran by innocent, hard-working Jews. By eliminating all of the Jews, Hitler somewhat degraded the economy of his nation. He took away all of the commerce that the Jews brought to Germany. Even if they weren't being killed, many Jews were hiding in fear for their lives. This put a stop to a portion of the German economy, especially to the all-Jewish communities.
The German soldiers were “just following orders”. Even then, there is no excuse for what they did. Who has the right to decide who lives or dies. Obviously, Hitler thought he did. Maybe it was a mental affliction or something similar, because no normal human being would go off on such an indirect killing spree. It's not normal. But, maybe Hitler thought it was his right.
In the book, Shmuel and Bruno are gassed. This was one of the many different ways that the Germans disposed of the Jews. In fact, this was one of the more humane ways that they killed people. Other methods consisted of starvation, marching to death, shooting, working to death, and many other ways. It was utterly horrifying for people to go through. People that made it out alive were scarred for the rest of their lives. Many of the women were raped and brutally beaten, just because they were different.
One of Hitler's main goals was to create an elite race of humans. He thought that white skinned, blonde haired, and blued eyed people were the perfect model for his race. Jews did not fit that description, so he had them disposed of. There are many brown skinned, brown haired, brown eyed people that are just as good, if not better than the people that Hitler thought were perfect. That is just one example of the different varieties of people.
In the story, Bruno gets uncomfortable when Shmuel says that he is a Jew. Even though Bruno is too young to really notice the evil taking place, he knows that he shouldn't talk to Shmuel because he is a Jew. Hitler infected the children of Germany. They turned German children against Jewish children and their families. He tried to create an army out of the innocent. If Bruno would have went tot public school, he would have been exposed to the lies and brain-washing techniques of Hitler and the Nazi Party.
In Chapter 13, Pavel gets beat up by Lt. Kotler for accidentally spilling a bottle of wine on him. It was a complete accident. For one thing, Pavel was under-nourished and his whole body was shaking from a lack of food. Just because of a simple accident, he was nearly beaten to death. In today's society, Pavel would have been Lt. Kotler's elder and would have been respected and Lt. Kotler would probably be serving him. The most appalling thing was the fact that nobody, not even Father, the head of the house, stopped Lt. Kotler. He was allowed to beat a man for an accidental spill.
Pavel was a Jew and lived in Auschwitz. Because of that, he was treated like an animal. There was no other reason for that, other than the fact that he was a Jew. Just Because Pavel was a jew, born to a Jewish father and mother. That is an extreme amount of prejudice from the Nazis. Albert Einstein, one of the most intelligent men that ever lived, was a Jew. If he wouldn't have been a Jew, the Nazis would have had great pride in him. Because of the fact that he was a Jew, they wouldn't touch him. They were too good to mingle with the Jews.
The Nazis were some of the most narcissistic people that I have ever heard of. They were so in love with themselves that they hated people that weren't just like them in appearance and in societal status. If they weren't on the Nazi bandwagon, they were against it. That was their mentality. It was outrageous and egocentric to think that they were better than everybody else. Hitler himself didn't even fit his own idea of a perfect race. How can it be perfect if the leader doesn't even fit the criteria?
Even if they didn't do anything wrong, Jews were punished. They were kicked out of their homes for no reason. Then they were forced to walk to the concentration camp. After that they were slowly and painfully tortured. It's almost as if the Nazis enjoyed watching people feel pain. The Jews were involuntarily entered into a war in which they couldn't defend themselves from their enemy. It was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. You have the clear and unfair advantage. That is the exact situation that the Jews faced during WWII.
In this book, Bruno died because he was mistakenly taken into the gas chamber. He was the son of a high ranking officer. As the author noted, Bruno and Shmuel greatly resembled each other. Shmuel was a Jew and Bruno was a Nazi. What was the difference? Nothing. Just because Shmuel was born in the wrong place, at the wrong time, he ended up dying because of his heritage. Had Bruno not been in Auschwitz, he would have lived a life ease because he was born to a high ranking Nazi officer. This is completely unfair.
I know that this is a biased paper. I know that it clearly favors the Jews over the Nazis. That is because to me, what the Nazis did to the Jews was terrible and can never be healed. The things that happened during WWII cannot and should not be forgotten. Even though it was a fictional story, I think that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas does an extremely good job at portraying the conflict between the Nazis and the Jews. I think that it is a key part of the novel. That is why I decided to write about this conflict.