Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas reflection

Good Essays
596 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas reflection
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

There are many films made about the Holocaust but not one that relates to this particular one because of how emotionally played it is. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas puts aside the powerful stereotypes between evil Germans and innocent Jews and instead, gives us two innocent eight year old boys, one Jewish and one German. Bruno, the son of a Nazi commander and Shmuel, the little Jewish boy stuck in the concentration camp become friends where they both believe nothing can take their friendship away. One valid point of this movie was to make the audience stand up at the end and absorb what really just happen. To think beyond what bad has happen between different minorities and move forward in a way of life that anyone can befriend anyone. One day, after breaking the rules and sneaking away from his home, Bruno wandered in the direction of which he thinks is a farm. There he encounters Shmuel, a boy who’s exactly his age but lives on the opposite side of an electric fence in the “farm” separating the two from any contact. This did not stop the two from doing anything that could keep them happy with each other. Bruno would also bring Shmuel any food he can get his hands on because Shmuel obviously did not eat much at all. This satisfied Shmuel more than anything although, one day, Shmuel was caught with a slice of cake that Bruno gave him but did not admit to it. Shmuel was accused of “stealing” and was given a brutal punishment where Bruno went days without even seeing his buddy. Finally one day they met back up and Shmuel was able to forgive Bruno and renew their friendship. Eventually after time, Bruno’s parents decided it was not a good place for them to live. On the day Bruno was supposed to leave, he snuck out trying to give back to his friend Shmuel by helping to find his father. Bruno disguised himself as a Jew and went looking around. As soon as they went to take a “shower”, Elsa found out her son was missing and ordered her husband to get his men to look for Bruno. As they found him in the gas chamber, they could do nothing but watch their son die holding the hand of Shmuel. This movie brought so much feeling and emotion to me and for anyone who has seen it. It proves to some people that anyone could risk their own life for the help of another. The fact the film was based mainly on 8 year olds also shows how smart and how much anyone can care for someone else. The movie is based on a terrible time in history for the world but the director made good out of it by putting the thought of giving back to someone in your head, especially when times are hard. The way the film ended really made my heart hurt in a way. Almost in a way where people may think it was a bad and tragic ending. But in reality, it shows the courage and drive to help someone in Bruno. The ending really makes you leave thinking ‘what could have been done to help save the lives of millions,’ or ‘why did Shmuel have to get put into the gas chamber the exact day Bruno sneaks in’? In conclusion, this was a great film and the whole storyline was absolutely great and I am sure it touched the lives of many people.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This film takes place during the time of WW2. It shows how some families didn’t even know what their husbands were doing in the war. It also shows what goes on in their homes and how the soldiers treated the Jews. Also near the end it depicts the inside of the camp. It shows that the Jews really didn’t know what was going to happen to them when they went to go get gassed.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Holocaust was a very tragic and horrifying event in history that changed human minds forever. Millions of Jews died in this event, because of mass murders and death camps. Adolf Hitler was a very cruel, but persuasive leader of Germany. He turned many people against the Jewish by blaming the loss of World War I on them. Adolf started to send Jews to concentration and death camps, so Jews hid. Many Jews went into hiding, such as, Jeannine Burk. During her childhood she hid for two years from the Nazi. However, she hid by herself in a stranger’s house and didn’t receive attention and love. Jeannine had to stay away from her family, and the only friends she had were imaginary. She could only go to the backyard, and when the Nazi had marches…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both the historical pieces by Jane Yolen who wrote The Devil's Arithmetic and John Boyne who created The Boy in the Striped Pajamas use the power of relationships between characters to transfer the message about the Holocaust and the barbaric nature of the events. The connection between the characters is shown on page 159 in Yolen's book when the protagonist states, “ Run for your life Rivka. Run for your future. Run. Run. Run. And remember.” The author made the relationship between the characters so strong that it showed how hard it was to be in the camps and the sacrifices you had to make for loved ones. It proves that some people in the situation during the time of the tragedy were cruel but others were really good at heart and caught in a bad situation. The novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas used the same technique as Jane Yolen, the message the reader gets through friendships. It was conveyed on page 44 when the young child Bruno states, “ Father returned to his office which was out of bounds at all times and no exceptions.” This little boy is so young and it is hard for him to comprehend why people are on the other side of the fence held hostage and why his dad is always working. Through his eyes it doesn't make sense, which is what many people think of the Holocaust, but when you're a little…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    But, that doesn't mean that we should continue making films about the same subject; the Holocaust. Some films can lighten the mood of the Holocaust by adding light situational under tones such as romance. By adding something along the lines of this to the existing horrific mass murder murdering scenes the Audience will be touched by the couple kissing in the middle of all of the chaos, while learning more about the Holocaust. Maybe if the Holocaust films were told by the perspective of the imprisoned Jew then the films would be worth the making. But that will never happen since the point of view is too horrific for the innocent public…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Through this act, Guido risked everyone’s life because if someone in the cabin had not understood German, the whole cabin would have lost vital information to survive in the camp. Guido lies and goes to extreme lengths to shelter his son from the reality of the Holocaust by turning imminent survival into a playful game. This scene forces the audience to think about childish games and the fragility of life in the camps simultaneously, provoking the audience to think about the life of…

    • 2326 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many novels and films that have be created to portray the stories of Holocaust victims, two examples being the film Life is Beautiful and the graphic novels Maus I and Maus II. Life is Beautiful tells the story of Guido, a Jewish man in Italy before the war. He fell in love with Dora, a beautiful teacher, and eventually married her and had a son, Giosue. As the Nazis took over, Guido, Dora and Giosue were taken to a concentration camp, where Guido does everything he can to keep his family alive. Maus I and II are graphic novels portraying the true story of a survivor written by his son. They tell the story of Vladek and Anja, in Poland before the war when they fell in love and had a son, Richieu. It tells their journey through the ghettos and Auschwitz to their freedom. As they deal with the hardships from the Nazis, Vladek does whatever it takes to protect his…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Holocaust remains an incident that teaches people how to be accepting of others and what can com from a judgemental point of view. Learning about the Holocaust and of the resistance efforts made during this time teaches young people how the dehumanization of others is wrong. Studying the Holocaust also gives students ideas of how to prevent incidents like this from occurring at all. Overall, the Holocaust was a terrible incident that killed millions of people. This incident is not one that should be taken lightly. However, the Holocaust is not an event that should leave people in a state of mourning, but rather a piece of history that can teach new generations how to live and how to be accepting of others. Hopefully, people learn to look at the Holocaust of something that happened once and should never happen again. The Holocaust is a tragedy that will forever remain an unforgettable period in…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Holocaust was and still is a very important event that happened during WWII. The Holocaust literally means” a sacrifice consumed by fire.” The Holocaust is the event that was carried for many years where millions of Jews were killed in what they called “concentration camps” or “death camps.” The Holocaust took place from January 30th,1933 to May 8th 1945. You’re probably thinking “Why should I care about something that happened so long ago.” The answer to that question is even though it happened many years ago millions of people died just because of what they believed in,what they looked like,and trying to fight back against the wrongdoing. Just think if you were in their shoes and you were being persecuted for something you didn't think…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, The Holocaust was a historic even that holocaust survivors will remember and tell stories to vent their families deaths and their experiences. Hitler was a bad person who scared many children and parents, but many didn’t live to tell how they would be treated cause they would be killed by the Nazis either by being murdered or…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    All in all, the Holocaust teaches students about moral rights, cultures, and not to hate. Not to mention, it’s a very engaging topic because students can bring up their heritage as well. It’s a topic that doesn’t require a lot of thinking, but can also be a topic that students would want to learn about. However, the topic should be simplified for young kids, as you don’t want to mess up their mind. The Holocaust really is a topic that everyone should know about, young and old, although it could be taught different ways for each age…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Holocaust Lesson

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The lessons learned are about overcoming oppression and finding yourself through these horrible events, and it can also teach kids about how to overcome bullying and racism through the tales of this magnified by the hundreds. these lessons are important to teach because, they are things that do not fit into normal curriculum and are special lessons not to be looked over. So, the holocaust is not just a bunch of history, it is a lesson for kids to learn the real struggles that youth their age had lived amongst extreme oppression.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holocaust essay

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As tragic as it may be, Innocence was lost throughout the Holocaust. The Holocaust was Adolf Hitler’s, the Nazi party’s leader, idea for creating his idea of a perfect race. Lasting around six and a half years, anybody that did not belong in his German community or race was murdered or put to work in concentration camps. Millions of people from different races were killed throughout the Holocaust. Throughout the massacre, not only were lives lost, but innocence as well Swing kids, a movie directed by Tomas Carter, is based upon a group of teenage bous, trying to find who they are under the Nazi influences. Night, a book written by Eli Weisel, focused on a Jewish boy named Eliezer and his journey throughout the Holocaust. Schindler’s List, a Steven Spielberg movie, concerns a man named Oskar Schindler, a Nazi follower, and the struggles he faces with the decisions he makes towards his Jewish workers.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holocaust Expository Essay

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Holocaust is a time full of sorrow. It is something that is still talked about today and will always be talked about. It is talked about out of fear, fear that something like it will happen again. In school…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many events that have happened throughout history that are important enough and that have raised enough awareness that we still study and learn about them today. One of those important events being the Holocaust is something that is still being talked about and learned today through the book called Night by Elie Wiesel and other various sources. The Holocaust was an event in history that should never be forgotten and is urgent to learn about still to this day because of the horrible things that happened to the Jews and so we are prepared so the Holocaust never happens again.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Holocaust

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Holocaust is and forever will be known as how much evil man could do as much as good. We must never forget the events that occurred during that time as to forget would be an injustice to the lives that were lost. To reflect and learn from the horrors that took place during the Holocaust ultimately creates a better world for future generations and us. The magnitude it had on the world is a reminder to every one of us that the choices we make leads to the growth or downfall of the world.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics