The Boy in the Striped Pajamas tells the story of Bruno, a young German boy growing up during World War II. Bruno’s father served as an officer in Germany’s Nazi Party, Bruno understood little about his work and didn’t understand much about the war that was going on. Bruno came home from school one day and found the family maid, Maria, packing his belongings. Bruno’s mother explained that Father would soon begin a new job and that the family needed to move immediately. Bruno disapproved of the new house. Not only was it smaller than their Berlin home, but it also struck him as cold and lonely. And to make matters worse, there were soldiers everywhere.
Bruno decided to go exploring. He walked for an hour before coming upon a boy who introduced himself as Shmuel. Bruno and Shmuel sat on either side of the fence and told each other about their lives. Shmuel explained how his family had been forced to move into a crowded ghetto and then again to get on a train to come to this camp in a remote part of Poland. Bruno was confused as to why Shmuel lived this way and he couldn’t understand it. One day Bruno walked into the kitchen and found Shmuel there polishing glasses. Bruno gave Shmuel some chicken to eat, but a young soldier named Lieutenant Kotler came in and caught Shmuel in the act. In a moment of panic, Bruno denied knowing Shmuel, and Lieutenant Kotler threatened to teach Shmuel a lesson later. Shmuel didn’t appear at the fence for nearly a week, and when he did, he had bruises everywhere.
This shows how Shmuel is being treated as the “other”. Shmuel is a Jewish boy who is being treated horribly because of his religion. Bruno’s dad is the one who is in charge of this camp that Shmuel is in which makes it sad because Bruno has formed a friendship with Shmuel. Shmuel got beat up just for eating food that Bruno gave to him, they’re both people but just because of religion Shmuel is being treated like he isn’t a human.