The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay

In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is friendship.

At first, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel is good - they have things in common. They both like soccer, both were taken from their homes to Out-With (Auschwitz) and both have the same birthday, "I don't mean I don't believe you. I'm just surprised that is all. Because my birthday is April the fifteenth too. And I was born in nineteen thirty-four. We were born on the same day." This helped me understand that the boys have a lot in common despite the things that separated them such as: the fence, Shmuel being skinny and sad, and Shmuel having to wear striped pyjamas. 

Later in the novel, their relationship takes a turn when Bruno betrays Shmuel. He betrayed him because he was afraid of what Lieutenant Kotler would do to him if he found out the truth. As it turns out though, Bruno didn't really want to deny their friendship and when he finally saw Shmuel again, he was able to express how he really felt about what he'd done and that he was incredibly sorry, "'Shmuel,' he said, running and sitting down, almost crying with relief and regret. 'I'm so sorry, Shmuel. I don't know why I did it. Say you'll forgive me.'" This is one of the main reasons why I decided that the key theme to the book was friendship. Because, even though Bruno betrayed Shmuel, they still ended up being friends again. This could've been due to reasons other than loneliness of course (e.g Shmuel using Bruno for food), but they really were friends. This just goes to show that friendship is a true source of happiness and relief.

At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now stronger than ever.  This is mainly because Bruno keeps his word to Shmuel. He tells Shmuel that, "You're my best friend, Shmuel…My best friend for life." Bruno crosses the fence and helps him look for his papa. Bruno really proved himself to be a loyal friend, "...despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go." This helped me understand that Bruno and Shmuel were very loyal to each other even though they had had their ups and downs. 

Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from having things in common to being best friends for life due to the fact that they had been through so much together and even when all seemed hopeless they were able to save their friendship and become loyal to each other. This relationship helped me understand the key message of friendship: that it is important to be there and support your friends and be loyal.