This narrative is told from the perspective of a boy named Bruno, who along with his family lived in a place called Berlin, but everything changes quickly when they have to go live in a place called Auchviz since his father begins to command a concentration camp in that place and also, he was a servant of Hitler. Bruno totally disagrees with this since he would miss his grandparents, his friends and his giant house which did not compare at all to the one in Auchviz. They were totally far from civilization so they had to take private classes at home, which were only about history.
The protagonist could see many people and their “houses” in the distance on the other side of a wire fence from which sometimes a very unpleasant smell came from. Bruno loved to explore so he took it upon himself to go there and met a little boy named Shmuel whom he became best friends with and went to visit every afternoon. But the problem was that his friend always seemed sad and was always hungry, too, he always complained about the soldiers and Bruno couldn't understand why there was so much resentment towards his dad's job.
One day, Bruno heard his parents arguing and from what he heard they were going back to Berlin. He didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to his friend, so he went to look for him. When he arrived, he saw him sad, with his gaze fixed on the ground as he did at the beginning. Bruno asked Shmuel why he was so worried, to which he told him that it was because he couldn't find his father; Since they had been really wanting to play for a while while they were both on the same side of the fence, they decided that Bruno would pretend to be a Jew to help Shmuel look for his father, since he was a great explorer. The plan was carried out until the next day. Bruno put on some dirty, striped pajamas that his friend brought him and they went into the rooms.
Upon entering, Bruno realizes that nothing is as he imagined, he found many emaciated, very thin and crestfallen people, at which point the protagonist realized that he would not be able to play with the children there as he had thought, they spent an hour looking for Shmuel's father and were unsuccessful. After a moment, the soldiers began to call them telling them that they were going to the showers, they ordered them to line up and march until they reached a completely closed room and suddenly everything went dark. In reality, all those Jews along with Bruno and Shmuel entered a gas chamber, in which they murdered the Jews by releasing a toxic gas.
Bruno's parents remained looking for him for several days until his father found his clothes on the edge of the fence. They immediately knew that he had crossed paths and mixed with the Jews and that he was definitely no longer alive.
I would have regretted it instantly, because the father finally felt the pain of those who lost loved ones there. I think in a way it was karma, but not that he deserved it like that, with an innocent child and the pain that his wife and daughter went through too.
Sources: book and movie.
How would you have felt if you were in Bruno's father's place?
Do you think what happened was karma for Bruno's dad or that he deserved it?
If you had been Bruno, would you have continued in that place after seeing the situation?
Replies
Excellent job Elizabeth! Be sure to comment back on three different days next time.
If I were Bruno's father I would not be able to call myself a father or even being able to go on with my day. The things he did are not something you do as a father, you're supposed to be loving and comforting your child, not sending them away to a concentration camp.
I would've felt sorry, bad, and just wouldn't know if I could recover from it. I think there was Karma just for Bruno's father. If I was bruno I wouldn't have continued but how are you supposed to know about it if youre just a kid in a world you don't really know about.
I would have felt very bad and I probably wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I think that it was karma for Bruno's father. if I was Bruno I would have stopped going to the camp but because he was a kid he didn't know any better and he thought he was making a friend.
When you are a child you don't tend to use reason much, but I could say that when he saw the complexion of the people and how everything looked, he would have been scared and left, but the desire to want to spend a moment with his friend won over him.
If I was Bruno's father I would have felt I failed as a father considered he moved them near the concentration camp. I think what happened could have been karma for what Bruno's dad did but I don't think it was necessarily deserved.
I would have felt so bad because he had no connections to the people he was killing, but when Bruno died, then he finally felt remorse. If I was Bruno, then I would have still seen the friend at the fence, but I wouldn't go back in. I would try to help the people in the camp and try to convince my father to stop the killing.
Exactly, he was not interested in who or how much he could harm those families until what happened.
I would have been devesated and never forgiven myself if I was Bruno's father. What happened was so cruel and so unfortuante. I believe that it was karma, but no one deserves to die. I dont know how to imagine myself in Bruno's shoes, I dont have a clue what I would do.
I know what his father was doing was so horrible it got to a point where he couldn't control himself or the people under him. He lost so much control that he didn't even realize he lost his one son. I don't think that Bruno deserved what happened to him he was an innocent child and I believe it was karma for his dad it was a time for him to realize what he was doing was terrible.
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