Novel by John Boyne (Irish author), published in 2006. Film adaptation directed by Mark Herman, released in 2008.
Bruno and Shmuel form a secret, impossible friendship, meeting nearly every day. Bruno brings Shmuel food and they talk, but Bruno never truly understands what the camp is—he thinks it’s a farm, and that the numbers on Shmuel’s arm are a game. The story’s devastating climax occurs when Bruno agrees to help Shmuel find his missing father. Bruno shaves his head, puts on a pair of “striped pajamas,” and crawls under the fence—never to return. While the film is largely faithful to the novel’s tone and ending, there are notable differences:
Title Variations: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (UK, Irish, and Australian spelling) / The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (US spelling)
Historical fiction, Holocaust drama, tragic fable. Plot Summary (Spoiler-Free for New Readers) The story is set during World War II (around 1942–1944) and follows Bruno , an eight-year-old German boy who lives a sheltered, privileged life in Berlin. His father, Ralf, is a high-ranking SS officer. When Bruno comes home from school one day, he discovers his family’s maid, Maria, packing his belongings. His father has been promoted and assigned to a new post: commandant of a concentration camp—though Bruno is only told they are moving to a place called "Out-With" (his mispronunciation of Auschwitz ).
Bruno hates their new, isolated house. From his bedroom window, he sees a strange "farm" where all the people wear "striped pajamas." Bored and lonely, he ignores his mother’s warnings and ventures along the fence that surrounds the camp. There, he meets a Jewish boy his age named , who lives on the other side of the wire.
If you use this story as a starting point for learning about the Holocaust, follow it with factual accounts such as Night by Elie Wiesel, Maus by Art Spiegelman, or the documentary Shoah .
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Novel by John Boyne (Irish author), published in 2006. Film adaptation directed by Mark Herman, released in 2008.
Bruno and Shmuel form a secret, impossible friendship, meeting nearly every day. Bruno brings Shmuel food and they talk, but Bruno never truly understands what the camp is—he thinks it’s a farm, and that the numbers on Shmuel’s arm are a game. The story’s devastating climax occurs when Bruno agrees to help Shmuel find his missing father. Bruno shaves his head, puts on a pair of “striped pajamas,” and crawls under the fence—never to return. While the film is largely faithful to the novel’s tone and ending, there are notable differences:
Title Variations: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (UK, Irish, and Australian spelling) / The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (US spelling)
Historical fiction, Holocaust drama, tragic fable. Plot Summary (Spoiler-Free for New Readers) The story is set during World War II (around 1942–1944) and follows Bruno , an eight-year-old German boy who lives a sheltered, privileged life in Berlin. His father, Ralf, is a high-ranking SS officer. When Bruno comes home from school one day, he discovers his family’s maid, Maria, packing his belongings. His father has been promoted and assigned to a new post: commandant of a concentration camp—though Bruno is only told they are moving to a place called "Out-With" (his mispronunciation of Auschwitz ).
Bruno hates their new, isolated house. From his bedroom window, he sees a strange "farm" where all the people wear "striped pajamas." Bored and lonely, he ignores his mother’s warnings and ventures along the fence that surrounds the camp. There, he meets a Jewish boy his age named , who lives on the other side of the wire.
If you use this story as a starting point for learning about the Holocaust, follow it with factual accounts such as Night by Elie Wiesel, Maus by Art Spiegelman, or the documentary Shoah .
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