The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Author's Note- This essay is about the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and how it shows how many people are judged based on their religion, or other aspects about them. 

   Imagine being hated for something that you can’t control. People who used to be your friends now can't stand to look at you. You lose touch with your friends and family members, and your life slowly begins to fall apart. This is what happens to nine year old Shmuel in the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas  by John Boyne. Shmuel, who is Jewish, becomes unwelcome in his home and is taken away to live at a concentration camp. This book demonstrates just how far discrimination can go, and how much of a difference one aspect about a person can make. 

    One reason this book is able to show how easily someone can be judged, is by the way this story is told. Bruno and Shmuel are two boys who like to do the same things, are the same age, and even have the same birthday. However, since Shmuel is Jewish, he lives a live filled with gruesome punishments, and food that is almost impossible to find. While Bruno on the other hand, is surrounded by unlimited amounts of food, and a loving family. The only thing that stops Shmuel from living as comfortable as a life as Bruno is one thing he can’t even control.  

   Although being Jewish is one thing Shmuel can't control, another thing that is out of his hands is what happens to him at this concentration camp. Many times in the book Shmuel is said to have lost weight and at one point got yelled at for eating one piece of chicken without permission from one of the guards. This means that at any point if the soldiers at the concentration camp wanted to, they could slowly starve Shmuel to death.  At other points in the book Shmuel has noticeable bruises on his body, which means Shmuel could get beat to death at any random time and would have no say in any of it. 

   Even though most of the book focuses on how Shmuel doesn't have control over what happens to him, there are also other characters that are also in the same situation. For example, Pavel was another character in this book who went from being a successful doctor, to becoming a prisoner, for one reason: he’s Jewish. And even though Pavel, always served Bruno's family well and even helped Bruno when he got into an accident,  none of those things could've stopped Pavel from ending up how he did. Another character in this book named Maria is also treated unfairly. She works her butt off, but only receives more orders from Bruno's family. She along with Pavel and other characters are treated with no respect.

    While people like Shmuel, Pavel, and Maria all got treated without any admiration, there were other people like Bruno and his family that got to live their life ordering people around. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas demonstrated how unfair and bias some people can be. It shows how innocent people slowly start to lose control of their lifestyle, lose many friends and family members, and even lose their lives.