The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Review




The Boy in the Striped Pajamas portrays a forbidden friendship between two young boys. One boy was an 8 year old who was son of a highly ranked commander, while the other one was a Jewish Prisoner. This took place in the World War II and the Hitler era. Asa Butterfield plays the young German boy Bruno, and Jack Scanlon plays Shmuel.

There are various differences between the book and the movie. One of the most obvious one is perspective. The book is written in Bruno’s eyes, so we know everything he knows. In the movie we don’t only see it in his view but in all the views.

To do with characters, Bruno’s mom is more compassionate and affectionate in the movie, while in the book she is quieter and doesn’t give off much emotion. She is more to herself and shows limited feelings for the things happening around her. His father is very strict and conservative in the book and is more a workman than family man. It is opposite in the movie as he is more a family man instead of a workman. Don’t get me wrong he is still a workman but is more revolved around family.

Minor differences include the boys ages- in the book they are 9 but in the movie they are 8. Also there is a part in the book where Hitler came to their house for a visit but this isn’t included in the movie.

The story starts while they are living in Berlin, and Bruno’s father gets promoted to Commandant. They then have to move to a new house in the country. Bruno is very upset because his three best friends lived near him and he won’t be able to see them. To make the matter worse, at their new house there is no body around and definitely no one Bruno’s age.

Outside Bruno’s window in the distance he sees tall fences with many people and children in them all wearing striped pajamas. He couldn’t contain his curiosity any more and disobeys his mother and goes over to the fenced in area and surprisingly finds a boy named Shmuel that his age. He would visit almost everyday and they quickly became best friends. Soon Bruno started bringing him stuff such as food. With out giving away the ending let me just say this; Sometimes people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Certain things happen in this world that aren’t right or fair.

Quite drastically the book lacks action and drama. The boys being young and innocent, makes the relationship honest and real. Both being the age of 8 they both don’t have the chance to gain knowledge of what is happening around them, and seeing their perspective of the world is phenomenal, making this one of the most mind-blowing endings ever.

The film is more dramatic compared to the book. You see more of the characters in their role than the book. For example you see the stages of the mother, as she slowly gets crazy, when she watches Gretel (Bruno’s Sister), start supporting the Nazi’s. She turns from sweet young lady to a Nazi activist. She starts saying that they should dispose of all the Jews because they are costing Germany money.

The movie stays with the plot of the book pretty much the whole time. The only really noticeable change is in the ending which kind of drags in the book.

I think both the movie and the book are very well executed. Of course if I had to pick one it would be the book because of course there are those small details that make it better. The movie sticks to the book but isn’t as interesting. The movie loses the innocence on Bruno’s perspective and that in it-self makes the book unique.

I definitely recommend this book and movie because it is very intriguing and revolves around the World War II, which was a life changing time in our world. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars because the story line is good and the writer was very brilliant with the topic.