The language features are used in the novel to reinforce the innocence of Bruno and Gretel and set the stage for the end.

Language features include elements like vocabulary and punctuation. Neither Bruno nor Gretel has a firm grasp on what’s happening, and John Boyne communicates their naivety through words. Bruno doesn’t say Auschwitz but “an Out-With,” so it’s as if the genocidal concentration camp is beyond his vocabulary. It transcends Gretel’s vocabulary even though she believes she is much smarter than her younger brother. She corrects Bruno with what she thinks are the right words. “It’s not an Out-With, Bruno,” she tells him. “It’s just Out-With.” Of course, she, too, is wrong.

Bruno’s belief that the concentration camp victims are wearing “striped pajamas” is another example of how vocabulary advances incomprehension. He doesn’t know that they’re prisoners and that he’s not supposed to like Shmuel, so they become friends, which leads to a tragic end. In a way, the innocent vocabulary makes their friendship and deaths possible.

Another feature of language is punctuation. At times, Boyne capitalizes select words to make them official and imposing. The father’s office becomes Out Of Bounds At All Times And No Exceptions. The titles reflect the kind of society Bruno and his family occupy—a severely hierarchical and secretive world.

Sometimes, Boyne uses multiple language features at once. The fuehrer, Adolf Hitler, is called “the Fury.” This goes back to Bruno’s innocence but also serves as an example of figurative language, since “the Fury” symbolizes Hitler’s ferocious and savage genocidal policies.