Summary Of Bruno's 'Pajamas'

The quote “You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be”, is true throughout the entire story. It is true for Bruno the moment he changes into the pajamas. Bruno never completely understood what Shmuel went through on a daily basis, but he did have a feeling that his family was treated differently. Once, Bruno wore the pajamas and went to the camp with Shmuel it seemed as though their lives were exactly the same. As Bruno stood on the other side of the fence in the filthy apparel he started to get the feeling that the camp wasn’t so great after all. When he was forced to march with the other members of the camp there seemed to be no difference between them. All the soldiers tugged and pulled on Bruno just as they did everyone else simply because he was unrecognizable in the outfit he was wearing. Bruno felt grimy in the clothing he wore and unsafe in his surroundings. He shared the same emotions as Shmuel even though they had such alternate lifestyles. All it took was a pair of soiled pajamas and a shaved head for Bruno to feel like he had lived in the same conditions as Shmuel since they moved to “Out-With”. As for Bruno’s father the outfit he wore made him feel like a stronger solider but caused
This is why the quote strongly relates to the overall meaning of the story. Many of the events that occurred during the story could have been prevented if everyone had stayed true to themselves and not try to pretend to be someone they knew they weren’t. If Bruno’s father treated the other Jewish children as he would have treated Bruno he wouldn’t have lost his son in such an ironic situation. His father let his uniform become like an alternate ego and that alternate ego slowly became who he truly was. In this story everyone seemed to let what they wore take over them and turn them into someone they didn’t intend to