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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Summary & Study Guide

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Summary & Study Guide Description

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a young adult novel by writer John Boyne. In this novel, a young boy is frustrated when he learns that his family has been forced to relocate due to his father's new job in the German military. The family's new home is in the middle of nowhere where young Bruno has no one to play with and nothing to do with the exception of exploring the boundaries of the odd fenced-in compound next door to the family's home. In the end, Bruno does make a friend, but this friend is trapped behind the fence, destined to never play with Bruno with the abandon of most kids their age. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a look at the Holocaust through the eyes of a child who comes to see the unfairness of it in a way only innocence can reveal.

Bruno comes home from school one day to discover that his family is preparing to move. Bruno has always lived in Berlin and therefore he is greatly distressed by this move. Bruno's distress increases when he discovers the family will be moving to a house in the middle of nowhere that is much smaller than their previous house. Bruno begs his father to allow them to return to Berlin, but Bruno's father explains that the job has been given in this new place is a very important job and that it is imperative to his father's career that they all remain where they are.

Bruno can see out his bedroom window an odd-fenced compound next door to the family's home where hundreds of children appear to live. When Bruno shows this view to his sister, they both realize that the people are not all children, but they appear to be because the clothing they are wearing looks like striped pyjamas. Bruno wonders who these people are, but no one seems willing to talk about them.

As part of his father's job, there seem to always be soldiers around the house. One morning, Bruno decides to build a tire swing in the front yard. One of the soldiers orders an elderly man, a servant in the house, to help Bruno. Later, when Bruno falls from the newly constructed swing, the servant comes to his aid. This servant, Pavel, cares for Bruno's wounds. When Bruno asks about his knowledge, Pavel reveals that he was a doctor before the war. Bruno is confused as to why Pavel no longer works as a doctor. Maria, the family's maid, tells Bruno that Pavel cannot work as a doctor any longer because he is a Jew.

A short time later, Bruno begins exploring the fence that divides his family's property from the compound next door. When Bruno has walked for what seems like hours, he comes across a young boy about his own age. This boy, Shmuel, lives on the other side of the fence. Shmuel tells Bruno how he once lived above his father's watch store, but the soldiers came and first moved his family into a single room they were forced to share with many others and then brought them to this camp.

Bruno and Shmuel begin meeting nearly every day after Bruno's lessons. Bruno often brings Shmuel food, when he does not eat it himself on the long walk, because Shmuel seems hungry. Then one day Bruno is surprised to find Shmuel in his house, given the job of cleaning the fancy glasses owned by Bruno's mother. Shmuel gets into trouble after eating some chicken Bruno gave him. Bruno was afraid to tell the truth, allowing the soldier to believe Shmuel stole the chicken.

To make amends to Shmuel for lying about the chicken, Bruno hatches a plan to go into the compound dressed like Shmuel to help while Shmuel looks for his father. On that day Shmuel and Bruno search the entire compound for Shmuel's father, but never find a single clue. Finally Bruno decides he must go home for dinner. However, Bruno and Shmuel find themselves in the middle of a large group of people when the soldiers come and force the people into a small building. Shmuel and Bruno hold hands as people begin to panic in the small room.

Bruno's parents search frantically for Bruno for weeks after he disappears. Finally Bruno's mother returns to Berlin with his sister. A year after his disappearance, Bruno's father visits the place where Bruno left his clothing, finally realizing what happened to his son. When the Allied soldiers come a few months later, Bruno's father no longer cares what they might do to him.

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Chapter 16 Summary: “The Haircut”

A year after Bruno left Berlin, his grandmother dies. The family makes a two-day trip back for the funeral, and Bruno finds that he has lost his memories of the city and his friends. Meanwhile, Kotler receives a transfer away from the camp following a fight between Bruno’s parents. Bruno’s friendship with Shmuel continues to grow, even though they are never able to play together; they just sit and talk.

As Bruno wonders more about the fence and the camp, he decides to ask his sister about it. She corrects his pronunciation of “Out-With,” but he fails to hear the difference. Then she explains to him that the people inside the camp are Jews. She adds that Bruno’s family is the Opposite—she cannot remember the name—and they dislike Jews.

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During their talk, Gretel discovers she has lice, and it turns out Bruno has them as well. His father decides to shave his head, and Bruno hates it, but it reminds him of Shmuel who agrees, adding that Bruno is “fatter.”

Chapter 17 Summary: “Mother Gets Her Own Way”

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

By john boyne, the boy in the striped pajamas summary and analysis of chapters fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen.

The rain continues on and off for the next few weeks, during which Bruno is unable to meet with Shmuel as often as he would like. When he does see Shmuel, he notices that he is getting even thinner and more sickly looking, so Bruno tries to remember to bring him more food. Meanwhile, Mother is planning a birthday party for Father and Lieutenant Kotler is spending a lot of time at the house with her. This makes Bruno uncomfortable and he dislikes the young soldier even more that he already had, especially since Lieutenant Kotler is always joking with Mother and "Mother [laughs] at his jokes more than she [laughs] at Father's" (162).

On the day before Father's birthday party, Bruno runs into Lieutenant Kotler in the hallway and the soldier grabs Bruno's book, Treasure Island , from his hands. He taunts Bruno a bit before Mother enters, calling Lieutenant Kotler, "Kurt, precious" before realizing that Bruno is there (165). She sends Bruno into the kitchen, where he is surprised to find Shmuel sitting at the table. Lieutenant Kotler has brought him there because his hands are small enough to polish the glasses for Father's birthday party. Bruno begins to help himself to some cold chicken and stuffing that's in the refrigerator and when he sees Shmuel looking at the food, he offers his friend some. Shmuel is hesitant because he knows he'll get in trouble if Lieutenant Kotler returns, but Bruno puts the food in his hands and he scarfs it down.

Lieutenant Kotler returns and scolds Shmuel for not polishing the glasses. When he accuses Shmuel of stealing food to eat, Shmuel tells him that Bruno gave it to him, and that Bruno is his friend. But when Lieutenant Kotler asks Bruno if he knows the boy, Bruno denies it. Lieutenant Kotler tells Shmuel to finish polishing the glasses, and that when he brings him back to the camp, they "will have a discussion about what happens to boys who steal" (173). When Lieutenant Kotler tells Bruno to go read his book, Bruno obeys and leaves the kitchen, feeling incredibly guilty about having betrayed his friend.

For almost a week, Shmuel does not come back to meet him at the fence. When his friend finally returns, his face is covered in bruises. When Bruno asks about his injuries, Shmuel says it doesn't hurt anymore. Bruno apologizes for letting him down and says he's ashamed of himself. Shmuel smiles and forgives him, lifting up the fence so that they can shake hands beneath it. It is the first time the two boys have ever touched.

At this point, almost a year has passed since Bruno and his family left Berlin to come to Out-With. The family receives news that Grandmother has died, so they return to their old home in Berlin for two days to attend the funeral. The two days are so sad that Bruno is almost relieved to return to Out-With. In fact, he muses that things are pretty positive at his new home recently: Mother is no longer taking as many "afternoon naps or medicinal sherries" (178) and Gretel is staying out of Bruno's way for the most part. Additionally, Lieutenant Kotler has been suddenly transferred away from Out-With, coinciding with a huge fight between Mother and Father. Mostly, Bruno is happy because his friendship with Shmuel has become even stronger.

Bruno has begun to wonder more and more about why he and Shmuel are living on opposite sides of the fence, so he decides to ask Gretel about it. She has thrown away all of her dolls and replaced them with maps of Europe. When he asks her about the fence, she first corrects him on his pronunciation of "Out-With." Then she explains that the people on the other side of the fence are Jews and that the fence is there to keep them from getting out and mixing with anyone else. When Bruno asks her what he and their family are, if not Jews, she says simply that they are "the opposite" (183).

While they are talking, Gretel notices something in her hair and begins screaming. Mother arrives and finds that both Gretel and Bruno have lice. They treat their hair with a special shampoo, but then Father goes a step further and insists that Bruno have all his hair shaved off. Father shaves it off himself. When Bruno looks at himself in the mirror, he feels sick, but thinks that now he looks even more like Shmuel. When they see each other the next day, Shmuel laughs at Bruno.

For the next few weeks, Mother becomes more and more unhappy. Bruno overhears her speaking with Father in the office one day and learns that she wants to return to Berlin with Bruno and Gretel, leaving Father to work at Out-With by himself. Mother begins napping even more and having even more medicinal sherries, causing Bruno to worry about her health. Then Father calls Gretel and Bruno into his office and asks them if they miss Berlin. Gretel confirms that she does, but Bruno is hesitant because he knows he would miss Shmuel if they left. Father tells them that the Fury will not relieve him of his command, but that Mother wants to go back to Berlin immediately.

Father remarks that perhaps she is right that Out-With is "not a place for children" (191). Bruno pipes up that there are hundreds of children there, but they are living on the other side of the fence. Father is surprised that Bruno has noticed them, but this information seems to help him make the final decision that the children should return to Berlin with Mother. Preparations begin so that Mother, Gretel, and Bruno can return to Berlin that week, but Bruno is nervous about telling Shmuel the news.

The limitations of the third-person narrator are apparent in describing the relationship between Lieutenant Kotler and Mother. Bruno is made uncomfortable by it, but he doesn't understand the extent of it. All he knows is that "whenever Father was called away to Berlin on an overnight trip the lieutenant hung around the house as if he were in charge: he would be there when Bruno was going to bed and be back again in the morning before he even woke up" (163). The reader is meant to understand that Mother and Lieutenant Kotler are having an affair, but that possibility doesn't even cross Bruno's mind. When Lieutenant Kotler is suddenly transferred away from Out-With in Chapter Sixteen, Bruno notes that "there had been a lot of shouting between Father and Mother about it late at night," but it doesn't occur to him that Father has discovered Mother's affair with the young soldier and sent Lieutenant Kotler away as a result (178).

Gretel's character develops further in Chapter Sixteen, and now she has firmly arrived on the other side of childhood. She has replaced her collection of dolls with maps of Europe given to her by Father, which she updates using the newspapers each day as she reads about developments in the war. Her transition out of childhood naivete is represented clearly in her correction of Bruno's mispronunciation of "Out-With." It was she who first told him the name of the place, but now she corrects him. When he asks her about the fence, she explains to him that their family is "the opposite" of the Jews on the other side of the fence (183). Her understanding of the situation is still simplistic and lacks understanding: she has accepted what her Father and Herr Liszt have taught her without much critical thinking.

The theme of the natural versus the unnatural emerges again in Chapter Fifteen, in the metaphor used to describe the differences between Bruno's and Shmuel's hands: "[although] Bruno was small for his age, and certainly not fat, his hand appeared healthy and full of life. The veins weren't visible through the skin, the fingers weren't little more than dying twigs" (168). Shmuel's living situation at Out-With is unnatural and thus, like a withering tree, he is slowly dying. The difference in the boys' hands is presented as a physical representation of just how different their life experiences are at Out-With. Shmuel tells Bruno that "[everyone] on my side of the fence looks like this now" (168).

Bruno's betrayal of Shmuel in front of Lieutenant Kotler is representative of the many people who betrayed their Jewish neighbors and friends during the Holocaust in similar ways. By distancing himself from Shmuel because he is afraid of the consequences of associating with the boy, Bruno contributes to Shmuel's punishment for a crime he did not commit: stealing food. The way Bruno considers his actions immediately following the event reflects a personal disconnect: "[he] wondered how a boy who thought he was a good person really could act in such a cowardly way toward a friend" (174). He feels ashamed of himself, but does not take action to right the wrong. When Shmuel finally returns to meet him at the fence, his face covered in bruises, Bruno apologizes. His words could have easily come from any of the Germans who fell in line with the Nazis and didn't speak up for the Jews during the Holocaust.

Certain events in Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen foreshadow the tragic conclusion of the story. First, Shmuel lifts up the fence that separates the two boys so that they can shake hands beneath it. It is the first time they have touched, and it foreshadows the moment when Bruno will crawl under the fence to help Shmuel look for his father. In Chapter Sixteen, after discovering that he and Gretel both have lice, Bruno must have all his hair shaved off. He and Shmuel both think it makes them look even more alike. Significantly, it is Father who shaves all of Bruno's hair off, inadvertently making it possible for his son to be confused for a Jew when he crosses under the fence.

When Bruno overhears Mother confronting Father in Chapter Seventeen, the reader learns more about the power dynamic between his parents. In the previous chapter when her children got lice, Mother complained, "If some people could only see the effect this place is having on us all" (185). She had been passive-aggressively referring to Father, just as she always has throughout the story. But in Chapter Seventeen, she speaks up for herself and demands to leave Out-With. She tells Father, "This is your assignment, not ours. You stay if you want to" (187). At a time when gender roles determined that a wife obey her husband, this distinction between his responsibilities and her own is a bold statement.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How does Bruno feel about his sister?

Bruno sees his sister as a hopeless case..... not someone he would choose to play with. Gretel is, of course, older and unlikely to be interested in the same things as Bruno.

' I don't see what else there is to do other than that,' said Bruno...

We are all in the same boat and it´s leaking. Who says this to whom and what does he /she mean by it?

“ Well you've been brought here against your will, just like I have. If you ask me, we're all in the same boat. And it's leaking.”

Bruno is speaking with Maria the housemaid. Bruno is using the metaphor of a sinking boat to the feeling he gets...

What do the children’s father tell them

He tells them quite a few things. What chapter are you referring to?

Study Guide for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas study guide contains a biography of John Boyne, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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Essays for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.

• Trying Themes of 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas as a Genuine Fable

Lesson Plan for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

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