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How are the themes of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne conveyed through the characters and events in the story?

There are many themes in this novel, including:  innocence, friendship, and the Holocaust.  The main techniques are dialogue and characterization.  Innocence is revealed through Bruno's interaction with his own family as well as his interaction with Shmuel.  Bruno is constantly mispronouncing names (such as "the Fury" for "the Führer" and "Out-With" for "Auschwitz").  Bruno also does not understand why his family had to move from Berlin to Poland or why his friend Shmuel is on the other side of the fence and, as a result, is not being taken care of.  The theme of friendship is definitely apparent through the interactions between Bruno and Shmuel.  The two are friends even though Bruno is German (and the son of a Nazi commandant) and Shmuel is a Polish Jew living in a concentration camp.  In fact, Bruno continually calls Shmuel his friend, brings him food, talks with him, and eventually risks his life when he enters the camp to help him find his father.  The theme of the Holocaust is revealed only through the masterful technique of characterization through Bruno and his comments in the dialogue.  Bruno simply knows he has been made to leave his home so his dad can deal with this new "place" in Poland with the fences and the "sad people" behind them.  Bruno knows these people are not happy because his friend, Shmuel, is not happy.  Bruno knows these people are hungry because Shmuel is always hungry.  Bruno never really understands the horror of the gas chambers, though, and is still confused when he is about to die in the Holocaust.  Further, the end of the book combines all of the themes together in a perfect way:



And then the room went very dark and somehow, 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.


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