Novels Do More Than Tell Stories; They Explore Ideas

Year 8 Common Task: “Novels do more than tell stories; they explore ideas”

Word Count: 800                                                                  

At the end of a novel, readers do not only take away a story but are also challenged to analyse and explore themes and ideas that are found within the book to gain knowledge and understanding. The Boy in Striped Pyjamas is a book written by John Boyne that explores the theme of conflict and how war and the controversies of race can bring change to the treatment towards the entirety of a race. The novel also looks at the theme of innocence that delves into the ideas of naivety, danger and acceptance that are seen between two boys, Bruno and Shmuel.

Conflict and war caused by the controversy between races can bring change to how humans of different ethnicities are treated and viewed.  The novel shows how the conflict between the Germans and the Jewish race causes a change of understanding and treatment of Jews. This is seen through Bruno’s father as he quotes “’Ah, those people’, said father… ‘Those people… well they aren’t people at all, Bruno’”. John Boyne has used dialogue in this quote to emphasise the opinionated and dehumanising views Bruno’s father has for the Jewish race. The quote shows how the Jews are viewed by the Nazi Germans because of their conflicting differences, taking Bruno’s father as an example who dehumanises and makes prejudice assumptions about the Jewish race. Provided with this evidence, it shows how the conflict between the Germans and the Jewish race creates a ground for the dehumanization of Jews. Another example that shows a change of treatment towards the Jews because of conflict is seen when Bruno is able to see what is really on the other side of the fence. As Bruno describes the scene “There were crowds of people sitting together in groups… they were all terribly skinny and their eyes were sunken and their heads shaved” that shows the effect of these conflict. Descriptive language is used in this quote to emphasise how cruelly the Jews are actually treated and to encourage readers to sympathize with the Jews. The controversy between the German and Jewish race is caused by Hitler’s (Fuehrer) belief towards anti-Semitism. This controversy is the reason why the Jews are mistreated and deprived of basic human rights. From the evidence given, the novel tells more than just a story by exploring the theme of conflict and how it has changed the way the Jewish race are seen as human beings.

The innocence and naivety of a child can lead to both danger and the acceptance of others despite cultural differences. Characters, Bruno and Shmuel are examples of how innocent children are and show how easy it is to dismiss each other’s contradicting backgrounds, to create bonds that however, lead to consequences.  Bruno’s naivety comes with the price of danger as it is seen in the novel “‘He’s not going to mind,’ said Bruno who was confused by how anxious Shmuel seemed. ‘It’s only food’”. Dialogue has been used in this example to express Bruno’s innocence and unawareness of the consequences that would follow when Shmuel takes the food.  Through this quote, it reveals how naïve Bruno and doesn’t realize why he and Shmuel can not be recognised as friends. However, as a child, Bruno involuntarily ends up putting Shmuel in danger because of his innocence. This evidence shows that that the consequence that Shmuel faced was caused by Bruno’s innocence to oversee the conflict between Jews and Germans and to treat everyone as humans who all need necessities such as food. Another example that supports how the naivety shown through children leads to acceptance is shown when Bruno makes up with Shmuel after Bruno denies the friendship he has with Shmuel. This is seen in the novel “Then Shmuel did something that he had never done before, he lifted up the bottom of the fence… he reached out his hand and held it there… then the two boys shook hands and smiled at each other. It was the first time they had ever touched.” This quote utilizes perspective techniques to enhance the innocence image of the two boys in a third person view. The extract shows how the two boys are able to accept and be friends with each other because of their innocence and unawareness of the war that is happening and the fact that the Germans and Jews were enemies. The novel analyses the theme of innocence and naivety through the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel, the novel tells more than just the storyline.