In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, what setting details make characters and lifestyles seem real?
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne is fictional but the characters' personas are based on expected norms across the world at the time of the Second World War (WW II). Bruno is the son of a typically strict and proud Nazi commandant whose own parents vehemently disagree on whether they are proud (Bruno's grandfather) or "unimpressed" (Bruno's grandmother) of Bruno's father. His grandmother says, "Is that what you consider to be of importance in the world? Looking handsome?" (chapter 8) when Bruno's mother tries to reduce the tension in the room.
Bruno has learnt the Hitler salute, "clicking his two heels together" (chapter 5). He politely says "Heil Hitler" although he admits that to him it is a way of saying goodbye to a soldier. Bruno also talks about "the Fury," his mispronunciation of fuhrer, and gives descriptions of his ("the Fury's") "tiny moustache" which Bruno thinks quite...
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pointless. It is also interesting that Maria, the housemaid, ensures that when the Fury arrives, she has "her head bowed even lower than usual" (chapter 11).
Bruno's family has had to leave his beloved Berlin and move to a "desolate place" which Bruno mispronounces as "Out-With." His unusual friendship with Shmuel who talks of his home before he came to the camp and how things changed when they had to start wearing the "armbands made from a special cloth" (chapter 12) with stars on them, defies all the boundaries that the Nazis try so hard to create and enforce.
These details and many others such references confirm the time frame, geographical and historical setting of the novel; intentionally written to reveal the potential for any relationship however unlikely, and across all borders and barriers. This highlights the futility of the heinous and never to be forgotten acts of Nazi Germany. These characters could have been any real people.
What setting details in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" make the characters' lifestyles seem real?
Boyne's novel is an excellent piece of historical fiction, and his detailed setting contributes to the authenticity of the story, making Bruno's unique experience seem genuine and realistic. Boyne includes specific details regarding Bruno's life in Berlin during WWII when the Allied forces were bombing Germany. Bruno mentions that he hated turning off all the lights every night, which is a detail that contributes to the story's historical authenticity. Regulated blackouts were common in Berlin to prevent enemy aircraft from accurately dropping bombs on specific targets.
Boyne's description of the Auschwitz concentration camp is also accurate, as he depicts the Nazi camp as a desolate, forlorn place in the middle of nowhere. Bruno initially hates "Out-With" and describes it as a cold, ominous area. The massive barbed-wire fence surrounding the camp, the small huts inside, and the foreboding atmosphere are details that Boyne includes that contribute to the story's authenticity. Once Bruno enters the camp, Boyne accurately describes the horrific conditions inside a Nazi concentration camp, where Jewish prisoners were abused and herded into gas chambers. Bruno's frightening experience inside the concentration camp contributes to the historical accuracy of the story.