ipl-logo

Conformity In John Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pa

1157 Words5 Pages

As young children, we are taught to always obey our superiors, and this holds true for Bruno and his family in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. When Bruno’s father, a highly-ranked Nazi commandant, informs the family that they are moving, he fails to tell them that they will be living next to a concentration camp. As the truth unfolds, the family members are forced to make difficult decisions and show where their loyalties lie. Ralf, the father, and Gretel, the sister, choose to remain obedient to their superiors. Elsa, the mother, chooses to go against the others, and it causes strife within the family. Bruno drifts between the two. In John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, he portrays this idea of obedience and conformity through the …show more content…

In the opening scenes of the movie, city hall is pictured in full sunlight, with three bright red Nazi flags waving out front. The camera eventually lands on a Jewish ghetto. The ghetto is dimly lit, with minimal sunlight. Boyle does this to show that the Jewish people have already fallen obedient to the Germans. This helps to set the theme of obedience and conformity. Further on in the movie, when Ralf’s promotion is being celebrated, lighting is used to Ralf’s advantage. As he descends the staircase, he maintains a bright glow, while his obedient subjects wait in dark lighting on the ground floor. He has just recently been promoted, but has already taken on an air of superiority, and the people accept it. After Bruno digs under the fence and joins Shmuel in looking for his father, yet another lighting change occurs. In previous scenes, the lighting was bright as Bruno approached the camp. Now, the lighting is dark throughout the camp, telling us what is to come. As Bruno and Shmuel sit inside the gas chamber, the lights are shut off, leaving them in near darkness. When the Nazi soldier opens the hatch on top of the chamber, he is bathed in bright light. This contrast of light shows that the Nazi’s have become completely superior to the Jews, and they have now completely conformed to the Nazi’s idealistic version of Jewish

Show More
Related

  • Night By Ellie Wiesel: Literary Analysis

    177 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Night, the setting that Ellie Wiesel describes portrayed the Nazis cruel treatment to the Jews. The Nazis think that the Jews are animals. (11) “The barbed wire that encircled us like a wall.” They encircled the town with barbed wire, like they would do with animals. The Nazis named the street Serpent Street, because they thought that the Jews were the devil.

    Read More

  • The Barbed Wire In Elie Wiesel's Night

    270 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Night, the setting shows some symbolism and that helps the reader understand what is going to happen next in the story. Wiesel writes how about in the first few pages in the first chapter how they are not afraid of the barbed wire, but in reality the Jewish people should be scared, because barbed wire usually means danger, but instead they had no fear. By Describing how they fearless they were about the barbed wire, Wiesel wrote, “The barbed wire that encircles us like a wall did not fill us with fear”(11). The barbed wire symbolises how dangerous the barbed wire was that surrounded them and how the Jewish people should be concerned, but instead they had no fear, because they got to live with other Jewish people. Wiesel is explaining

    Read More

  • Examples Of Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

    1082 Words  | 5 Pages

    There they are rescued by Americans and a resistance group that attacked the camp. Sadly Elie’s father died in Buchenwald before the rescue due to a sickness and being sent to the crematory. Dehumanization of the Jewish people in “Night” ,by Elie Wiesel, happened in a variety of ways and helped Hitler achieve his goal of damaging the view of Jewish people to the Germans. In “night” we see how the Jewish people are being oppressed as well as being dehumanized in so many ways.

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel Father's Life

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    With everything that has gone on in their lives, Elie felt a small relief when his father was finally taken away. After the Holocaust, all anyone cared about was food. They didn’t give a second thought to the family they’d never see again until about months or years after the Holocaust ended. Concluding, Night shows how, not only Elie, but everyone changed throughout the Holocaust, their minds corrupted by everything they’ve seen, their self image shattered to nothing, leaving them with no self respect. The Holocaust didn’t only change their physical appearance, but their mental

    Read More

  • How Does Elie Wiesel Use Segregation In The Book Night

    394 Words  | 2 Pages

    Night by Elie Wiesel was a novel with great horror and suffering during the Holocaust. “Three days later, a new decree:every Jew had to wear the yellow star”(Wiesel 11).This quote marks the beginning of the religious segregation for Eliezer and his family. At this time the Jews had to wear stars, but as the novel progressed it got worse. It started as clothing then went to ghettos. Ghettos were enclosed districts where Jews lived separately from the world.

    Read More

  • Dignity In Elie Wiesel's Night

    648 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the World War II extermination camp Chelmno there were 150,000 deaths, the camp Belzec had 435,000 deaths, and the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau camp ruled with over 1,000,000 deaths. In the unbelievable novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the author gives the audience a first person look on his experiences throughout his time at several prisoner of war camps as a Jewish teenager. Through the use of motifs about the night and a person’s eyes, Wiesel writes about the deeper meaning of how he kept his dignity in the face of inhumane cruelty. By analyzing the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, one can interpret the central theme of the story into a deeper meaning from the descriptions of the night and eyes, which is important because it helps younger generations to understand clearly what Holocaust survivors endured.

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Film Schindler's List

    484 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film Schindler 's List stands among the most successful and noteworthy Holocaust films of the twentieth century. It portrays the moral development of one Oskar Schindler, a rising Nazi businessman, who saved roughly one thousand Jewish prisoners of the Krakow Ghetto by employing them at his factory. By heavily bribing Nazi officials and outsourcing his production, Schindler was able to his deem his Jewish workers essential to the war effort, saving them from otherwise certain death. Like all films, Schindler 's List has its strengths and weaknesses. The director 's decision to begin in full color with candles which fade into black and white not only helps the viewer enter a solemn and serious mindset, but it also minimizes distractions as to focus solely on the film 's message while the story unfolds.

    Read More

  • The Boy In The Striped Pajamas And Night Comparison Essay

    956 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both stories the protagonist have and feel as if they have little to no power in the direction of which their life is heading. Shmuel the Jewish boy that Bruno befriends in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas does not really talk about or try to explain to Bruno what is really happening to him or even to try and ask Bruno why his people are doing this to his people. Bruno and Shmuel do

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

    1514 Words  | 7 Pages

    Families being torn apart, being ripped from everything they’ve known growing up and being isolated within a camp where no one truly knows what’s happening to them. That’s what was going on in the life of the Jews during WWII, they were being treated as if they were no longer human, being tossed in concentration camps and given just a number to identify them, completely taking away their self importance. The atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust are being subtly portrayed in the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,”directed by Mark Herman, a story told from the eyes of an eight year old boy named Bruno and his unlikely friendship with a Jewish boy named Shmuel. The movie tells the story of how a young boy begins to realize what kind of solder his father truly is and what is going on during WWII as his parents had kept him enclosed in this idea that all is well in the world. Through the use of imagery, colors, and pathos Mark Herman successfully portrays the horrors of the Holocaust through the innocent and peculiar friendship of two nine year old boys, Bruno and Shmuel.

    Read More

  • The Night Divided

    1413 Words  | 6 Pages

    Back then there were walls that divided countries, families, and friends. Because of walls, many authors write about the lifestyle of living there. Author John Boyne and Jennifer A. Nielsen both wrote books surrounding different walls. In Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, it takes place when the Jews had no right to do anything because of their religion.

    Read More

  • Fire Quotes In Night By Elie Wiesel

    874 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, in Night, it is the opposite. The symbolism of fire, is used as a symbol to represent the cruelty of the Nazi’s. For example, “She was howling, pointing through the window: "Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire!

    Read More

  • Motifs In Elie Wiesel's Night

    827 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fire is often a symbol of pain and suffering and is particularly evident throughout different personal accounts of historical events. Throughout Night, by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel gives an accurate account of his life throughout the Holocaust while using different motifs to symbolize the horrors of the Holocaust. Wiesel uses motifs to show things without actually saying them directly. Throughout Night, the motif of fire is portrayed as a symbol of Hell on Earth and usually indicates that a bad thing will start to happen and is shown in multiple moments including Mrs. Schaechter, the Crematoriums, and the Death March.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Dehumanization In Night

    197 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the novel Night the protagonist, Elie Wiesel, narrates his experiences as a young Jewish boy surviving the Holocaust. Elie 's autobiographical memoir informs the reader about how the Nazis captured the Jews and enslaved them in concentration camps, where they experienced the absolute worst forms of torture, abuse and inhumane treatment. Dehumanization is shown in the story when the Jews were stripped of their identities and belongings, making them feel worthless as people. From the start of Elie Wiesel 's journey of the death camps, his beliefs of his own religion is fragile as he starts to lose his faith. Lastly, camaraderie is present as people in the camps are all surviving together to stay alive so as a result the people in the camp shine light on other people 's darkness.

    Read More

  • Cinematic Techniques In Edward Scissorhands

    793 Words  | 4 Pages

    To represent this low key lighting is used in Charlie’s home to show that the reality of his life is there living in poverty. This pattern continues in the cult classic Edward Scissorhands. The town that Edward is welcomed into is in high lighting to signify that it is the life that he never had. He wants to be accepted and loved and this is the place that his wish comes true. Unfortunately we know that his fantasy is unrealistic and there is no way he can live normally.

    Read More

  • The Characteristics Of Humanity In The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

    908 Words  | 4 Pages

    In many stories throughout history, people or characters exhibit humanistic qualities. Humanity is possible in the toughest situations, as shown in the novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, September 11, 2001, and our own communities. To begin, the characters from the novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne display humanity. Two boys, Bruno and Shmuel, become best of friends despite their differences in race, religion, and belief. As stated in the novel, “‘Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree,’ said Bruno, who didn’t want to fight with his new friend” (Boyne 114).

    Read More

More about Conformity In John Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pa

Open Document