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
In the Bruno's father's position I would have felt guilty for having my child in that situation in the first place. I don't believe it was karma because even though he did something terrible, he was brain washed by Hitler and an innocent dying should not be considered karma. If I was Bruno I would not have continued after seeing the extent of the situation.
I completely agree, Bruno's father was only doing his job and the loss of an innocent child who only wanted to help his friend was too strong.
If I was in Bruno's fathers place, I would feel awful. He finally felt the pain that all the victims felt as their loved ones were killed. I think what happened was kind of karma, but I don't think anybody deserves to lose their children. If I was Bruno, I would have been scared and left.
If I was Bruno I would try to convince my parents, especially my dad, to release them and if it doesn't work, it would be more likely that it wouldn't work. I would really do the same thing that Bruno did.
I agree that it would not have worked to ask their father to free them, besides, perhaps if that had happened, their father would have found out about the friendship that Bruno had with Shmuel and would have sent them back to Berlin.
I think that if I was Brunos father I would have had trouble with what happened. I think that what happened was karma because Bruno;s dad was a very bad person who killed a bunch of people. If I was bruno I would have immediately tried to leave because of the situation I saw some people in.
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