Monday, November 1, 2010
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Due 11/3
When Bruno dresses in the filthy striped pajamas, he remember something his grandmother once said," You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be." (page 205) How is this true for Bruno? What about his father? What does this statement contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
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I think that this quote is true throughout the whole story. Firstly, When Bruno's father gets his new uniform, and everyone addresses him as commandant, grandmother is very unhappy. She is unhappy because father, like she said, felt like the person he was pretending to be in the right clothes. It can be referred to as a good thing, like when she performed plays with Bruno and Gretel, or it can be bad, like when father felt powerful in his new uniform.Next, when Bruno put of the striped pajams, he felt like a jew because all of them wore striped pajams aswell. And yet he felt different because of how depressed they all looked. Sometimes what you wear makes you feel very different. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes bad. It just depends.
ReplyDeleteMarah
Sorry I have to keep asking you to do it for me! Here it is:
ReplyDeleteWhen Bruno remembers what his grandmother said to him one time, ("You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be.") he knows that what she said was true. While he still used live in Berlin, Bruno, Gretel, and his grandmother used to make mini productions for his mother, father, and grandfather. Bruno remembers when he was once dressed up as a Roman Gladiator. So, since Bruno was putting on the striped pajamas, this is what he was reminded of.
"'I suppose that's what I'm doing, isn't it? Pretending to be a person on the other side of the fence.'
'A Jew you mean,' said Shmuel." (Page 205)
Bruno thinks that his father's uniform is simply wonderful. Shmuel disagrees with him... only because he is a Jew. Since Bruno doesn't know the uniform's true meaning, he thinks it is utterly amazing. Bruno doesn't have a clue about what his father's job is. Sadly, he never would. "But when they asked Bruno what his father did he opened his mouth to tell them, then realized that he didn't know himself. All he could say was that his father was a man to watch and that the Fury had big things in mind for him. Oh, and that he had a fantastic uniform too." (Page 5)
In a way, this statement is kind of the climax of the story. It makes you remember all the events that have happened and all the possible ones that could happen. Bruno has no idea whatsoever what mess he is getting himself into. He pulls on the pajamas not knowing what they symbolize. Then, he gets changed into his new clothes, rolls under the fence, and then pretends to be a Jew, never thinking that there was the slightest chance about what was going to happen in a few hours....
Alyssa
I think that it contributed with Bruno because when he went on the other side of the fence he was pretending to be a Jew. So Bruno had the best possible out fit for the situation because he had what the skinny people exactly had, and I think he felt like the person he was pretending to be was like the opposite of Bruno the boy who lived on the other side of the fence like stated in the book Shmuel said, “you look like me” so Bruno probably felt like him because he had gotten his head shaved like Shmuel. I think it connects with Father because how fancier your out fit the better solider you are that is what Bruno thought. Father though apparently was thought of from the Fury which had great ideas for Father so Bruno thought that his uniform made sure he was commandant and the Fury had great ideas for him. How it ties into the whole story is that well if Shmuel was wearing striped pyjamas and was just a regular boy across the fence then the whole story wouldn’t have been the same Bruno might not come back almost every day but instead of just once in a while. The main thing about how it contrives with the story is I think if Shmuel hadn’t had the pyjamas on Bruno and Shmuel wouldn’t have been gassed.
ReplyDeleteISAAC
I think that when Bruno is in the striped pajamas he realizes what life is like on the other side of the fence, not only the dirty pajamas but the sorrow and helplesness of the other side. When Bruno gets stuck in the shower of death he holds Shmuels hand and doesnt let go, another example of expierencing the other side and the clothing that may have caused the death of Bruno. The clothing triggered the the fright. For father the clothing he wore made him feel important and stronger, more powerful than ever. Grandmother saw this and when he considered it hansome and his wife too she could not hold back from saying what she needed to say, and could not stand the influence of the uniform and all the destruction such a simple object could do. She stormed out after he and his wife said that he was handsome in the suit. I think it was 40% the clothing that caused him to do what he did.
ReplyDeleteGlenn
I think that when Bruno put on the pajamas he was sort of unlike himself because instead of being “proper” his biggest thought was that he would get a cold. Generally Bruno would be irritated of the smell, the walk in the cold rain, and also the little space he had. Wearing the pajamas that smelled rotten made Bruno kind of like an imprisoned person.
ReplyDeleteIn which the way that it affected father I agree with Glenn because that suit made him feel powerful but it was a suit that was for Hitler’s right hand man hence why Bruno’s grand mom was disgusted. This also affected his dad also because he was in the book less and less as he became more and more powerful and less of a father.
Ronin