¶ … director of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas about conformity and the development of prejudice
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) details the adventures of a young German boy named Bruno during World War II. The movie uses the naive perspective of a child to critique the prejudice and discrimination practiced by the Nazis during the war and also to critique prejudiced attitudes in general. The novel suggests that Bruno's pure, childish perspective is free of hatred, compared with those of adults and his older sister Greta. It advocates the point-of-view that human beings are essentially 'the same' and that perceived differences of race, religion, and class are socially-constructed and not innate to humanity.
The beginning of the film details the move of Bruno's family to a concentration camp to live, where his father will work as an officer. To...
His father will not permit him to enter his study in which he is engaged in SS business, piquing the boy's natural curiosity about adult secrecy. The childish exasperation Bruno manifests about the move, and his normal sadness would, in another cinematic context, be quickly counteracted by positive things he finds in his new environment, in support of the change. But the fim instead takes another turn.
Bruno witnesses the strange sight of incarcerated Jewish prisoners. To him, they look like people in striped pajamas, hence the name of the film. Bruno's perspective is without prejudice and judgment. He cannot understand why some people are forced…
