The boy in the striped pyjamas
1 A The boy in the striped pyjamas.
B John Boyne
C The author is from Ireland, so he writes English.
D The Book was first published in 2006.

2. Summary
1 When Bruno came home he saw the maid Maria putting his belongings into boxes.
Bruno did not know why she was packing his belongings. Bruno his mother explained to Bruno that they had to move, because his father has got a new job. Bruno was not very pleased with the idea of moving. He was worried that he won’t have any friends at the new house.

2 Bruno was surprised by the new house. It was in the middle of nowhere. There were no houses to be seen nearby. He was right that there won’t be boys to play with. Bruno liked to explore so he explored the house. They will live here for the foreseeable future. Bruno think that means the will stay here a few weeks. Bruno finds out there was something strange about their new living area.

3 Bruno often calls her sister a hopeless case. Because she and her girlfriends sometimes tease Bruno. Gretel explained to Bruno why their house is called Out-With. Gretel also want to go back to their old house. Bruno tells Gretel about the people he had seen. Also Gretel discover the people behind the fence.

4 Bruno and Gretel are wondering what kind of people they saw. Together they looked at the strange things behind the fence. They discuss if it is the countryside but finally agree that it is not.

5 Bruno goes to his father to ask why they are moved to the new house. His father tells him that he was sent by the fury. And that Bruno has to make the best of their new home. Then he asks his father who the people outside are. His father tells him that they are not really people and that he shouldn’t worry about it because it has nothing to do with him.

6 Bruno has a conversation with their maid Maria who he asks if she likes their new house. Maria tells Bruno that his father helped her. She also says that Bruno must be careful what to say about his father.

7 Bruno makes a swing in a tree. At once Bruno goes too high and falls off. Pavel brings Bruno to the house, Pavel also cleans his wound on his knee. Later on they chat a bit, Pavel tells Bruno he is a doctor which Bruno doesn’t believe at first. When his mother comes home she tells Bruno to go upstairs and he hairs her saying ‘if the commandant asks, we’ll say that I cleaned up Bruno’. Which he thinks is unfair of her to take the credit like that. Because it was Pavel who really cleaned his knee.

8 Bruno talks about his grandparents and how he loves his grandmother. And that he and Gretel and his grandmother make a play every Christmas but during the last Christmas his grandmother got in an argument with his father about being a soldier. And how he hasn’t seen his grandmother since then. He wished he would be back in Berlin.

9 Bruno is getting ready to explore around his house. There is a bench outside with a plaque on it. On the plaque it says that camp Out-With was opened in 1940. He couldn’t barely wait to explore the area.

10 After an hour of exploring Bruno discovers a boy. The boy is behind the fence in the camp. The boy his name is Shmuel. They start to talk about exploring and then discover that they are born on the same day.

11 In this chapter the story goes back in the time, to the night that the fury came to their house. Bruno and Gretel are told by their father that they have to be quit and aren’t allowed to stay with them downstairs during dinner. Eva Braun is with the fury Bruno likes her and thinks she is very beautiful. He doesn’t like the fury and thinks that he is the rudest guest ever.

12 Bruno and Shmuel talk about how their lives are changed. Shmuel tells Bruno that he lived above his father’s watch shop. And how he got inside the fence. At the end Bruno and Shmuel separate again. Bruno goes home but promised to come back.

13 Here Bruno and Shmuel talk some more about their lives. Then back at Bruno’s house his family is having dinner and lieutenant Kotler does something nasty to Pavel. Pavel seemed sick or week and accidently dropped a bottle on kotler’s lap. Bruno could not understand why he reacted like that to the kindly Pavel.

14 It rains and Bruno is very sad that he can’t go and see Shmuel. He is become good friends with him. He has a conversation with Gretel who he tells that he has a friend. An imaginary friend. He tells her about Shmuel and about his live.

15 When Bruno is going downstairs he sees Shmuel sitting in his kitchen. He talks to Shmuel and gives him something to eat. Shmuel doesn’t want it but later he accepts the food. Then lieutenant Kotler walks in and smells that Shmuel has eaten something and asks him why he has stolen the food. Shmuel tells Kotler that Bruno is his friend. Bruno freezes and tells Kotler that it isn’t true. Bruno is scared of lieutenant Kotler. The next day when Bruno goes to the fence to meet Schmuel he is not there. After a week Shmuel is there again all bruised up. They make up and Shmuel forgives Bruno when he tells Shmuel that he is scared of lieutenant Kotler.

16 Bruno his grandmother dies and they go back to Berlin for the funeral. It pleases him to know that he has grown because he can look out of the highest window in the highest room for which he always had to stand on his tiptoes. When they are back in Out-With he asks Gretel why he isn’t allowed to the other side of the fence. Gretel explains that they are Jews and that ‘we’ don’t like the Jews. Bruno doesn’t understand it fully but he’s able apprehend it a bit. Then his sister discovered that they both have lice and Bruno’s hair is cut off. The next time Bruno sees Shmuel, Shmuel laughs at Bruno for his hair. But it looks the same as Shmuel his hair.

17 Bruno hears his father and mother argue about Out-With. His mother thinks it isn’t a healthy place for children. A few weeks pass and then his father tells Gretel and Bruno that they are going back to Berlin to their old house. Bruno isn’t sure what to feel about it he’ll miss Shmuel if he goes back to Berlin. But all his old friends live in Berlin.

18 Bruno tells Shmuel that he is leaving for Berlin. Shmuel is very sad because he lost his father a few days ago. Bruno says that he would’ve liked to see Shmuel’s place. Shmuel invites him then they can look together for his father. Bruno come up with a plan and they agree that the next day Shmuel will bring a striped pyjamas for Bruno and then Bruno can come along to the other side of the fence with Shmuel.

19 Bruno arrives at the place where he always meets up with Shmuel. He changed into the striped pyjamas. They went into the camp. Bruno doesn’t like it there no one is happy everyone is sad. Then they go exploring to find Shmuel’s father. Then at the end of the night some soldier make a group of people go together. Shmuel and Bruno are inside the group. They gave to go on a march Bruno doesn’t want to because he needs to be at home in time. But they have to go they are led to an airtight room. Bruno thinks it is because of the rain. Then he holds Shmuels hand.

20 Bruno is missing. His father looked for him and the soldiers went through the whole house. He was nowhere to be found. Then a villager found a pile of clothes that belonged to Bruno his father takes a look and doesn’t understand it all. His mother returns with Gretel to Berlin in the hope that Bruno is there. Of course he’s not. The after a year his father goes back to the place where Bruno clothes were found and discovers that a boy would be able to climb under the fence to the other side. He knows immediately what happened to Bruno. His father leaves Out-with a couple of months after that.


The boy in the striped pyjamas

3 The title: the boy in the striped pyjamas. Shmuel is the boy in the striped pyjama and in the and Bruno as well. This is a main point in the book so that’s why it is the title.

4 A The story takes place in Berlin, Germany and Auswitz, Poland.
B The Story takes plays during the second world war.
C The story is not chronological. There are some flashbacks in the story when Bruno thinks about things that happened in Berlin before they came to Out-With.

5 A The main characters are Bruno, Shmuel and Bruno’s family.
B Bruno is the son of the commander in the Nazi army. He looks up to his father and loves his mother and grandmother. He dislikes his older sister whom he calls a ‘Hopeless Case’. He also likes to explore and play with his friends. Shmuel is a boy on the other side of the fence at Out-With. He is like Bruno but had a very hard time before and after he got to the camp. He is skinny and has a grey face and of course a striped pyjama. Gretel is Bruno’s older sister and she thinks Bruno is to childish at first she loves her dolls but later in the story she throws them away. Then Bruno’s mother she cares a lot for her children and is fond of Bruno. She doesn’t like it when they have to go to Out-With. But she is proud that her husband has such a high rank. Father is a character who is very on his own and very much the head of the family. He takes all the decisions he also has a very loud voice so that everyone is silent when he speaks. He is a good leader and men like to work with him.
C Gretel grows up a bit. She gets serious and stops teasing Bruno and focuses on following what’s happening in the war. She becomes a real Nazi Daughter.

6 A To show a different side of World War two. In the book you look at the situation through the eyes of a Nazi.
B The message is that by a little change something can go really bad. And that how children are a victim of war.
C Not really but it shows the horror of a war. People have to realize that things like this happened only 65 years ago.
D There is no social issue addressed to the story.

7 A I like the novel because is a good story. The second world war is something we heard of very much. But in this book you see the war through the eyes of a Nazi child. That makes the book special.
B I like the part when Bruno starts to explore the area around the house. Because in the same time the reader explores the area around the house.
C If you want to have a good future you should try to avoid a war.
D It took 5 hours to read to book.