Character Analysis Of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The main characters in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are Bruno, Shmuel, Gretel, Bruno’s mother, and Bruno’s father. Bruno is the protagonist of the story, he is nine years old, German, and is short. He used to have hair but it was shaved as a result of lice. Bruno is very curious and this can be seen through all of his exploring. He is also nice, he gave Shmuel food because he saw how skinny he was. Bruno is also smart, he figured out how to get over the fence, and covered up the fact that he was seeing Shmuel. Bruno is also sheltered and naive, he has a maid, people cooking for him and doing things for him, he didn’t even know where Poland was. Throughout the story Bruno never understood what was happening on the other side of the fence.

The exposition of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is when Bruno comes home and finds Maria in his room, packing up. He is told that his family is leaving Berlin to go to a new home, this news makes Bruno very sad. Bruno doesn’t want to leave his big house and all his friends. Bruno tries to get his family to not move, but they are very stern about staying in Berlin. The rising action is when Bruno goes exploring and sees a fence. He goes up to the fence and sees a little boy sitting with his legs crossed. Bruno learns the little boy’s name is Shmuel, and that they both have the same birthday. The climax is when Bruno figures out he is moving away back to Berlin. This makes him verys sad because him and Shmuel have become very close friends. Bruno tells Shmuel the bad news, but he isn’t the only one who has bad news. Shmuel tells Bruno that his papa has gone missing. The boys plan one final visit, and during this visit Bruno would go to the other side of the fence. Bruno gets pajamas like Shmuel 's and looks like Shmuel because he has a shaved head too, and then climbs under the fence, and enters the camp. The falling action is when Bruno and Shmuel make into the camp, but have no luck finding Shmuel’s papa. It is raining and they are ordered to march, they are marched into an airtight room. The resolution is when Bruno and Shmuel are killed in the gas chamber. They thought that they were just staying in the room because of the rain, but when the door shut, the boys were gassed. Bruno’s mother stays in Auschwitz for more time, hoping her son would return, then moves to Berlin hoping he’d be at the house, but he isn’t. Bruno’s father becomes a lot meaner and one day thinks he might know what happened to his son. He goes back to the spot where Bruno used to sit with Shmuel, and knows that his son is gone. Later on soldiers took Bruno’s father but he didn’t care what happened to him