This is my Boy in the Striped Pyjamas essay. I've spent quite a while on this piece writing!
In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is: It doesn't matter if you're different colours, have different backgrounds, or believe in different things, anybody can be friends. Bruno comes from a family that is rich and believes that they are superior to other races, and Shmuel comes from a family that doesn't have a lot of money, is discriminated against by their race, and now lives in a concentration camp. But through all of the differences they have, they still manage to become best friends.
At first, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel is quite easy-going, Bruno seems inquisitive about Shmuel, who doesn't come off as being as eager talking to him but still continues to have a conversation. Both find out things they have in common and the differences they have, "He had hoped that Shmuel might have said no as it would give them something else in common." This helped me realize that it's only after you ask questions and really get to know someone, that you can have a real relationship or companionship and truly judge them. I feel that you can only criticize someone after you get to know someone, as you should.
Later, in the relationship, Bruno is confused by why Shmuel's life is so bad and different from his. Shmuel tells Bruno about how many Jews are on the other side of the fence and how hard they have it over there. Bruno doesn't understand why Shmuel's life is so horrible because he sees Shmuel as just another boy that has the same problems as him, "Shmuel looked very sad when he told this story and Bruno didn't know why; it didn't seem like such a terrible thing to him, and after all much the same thing had happened to him." This helped me understand that everyone is in a situation, some worse than others, but that doesn't mean you're in that situation by yourself. Friends can help you a lot, even if they don't understand what you're going through. I think that this is a great message and talking to your friends is really important.
At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now really close. They both love seeing each other and would be hard to separate. It just shows how much they like each other and how much they need each other too, "Bruno had an urge to give Shmuel a hug, just to let him know how much he liked him and how much he'd enjoyed talking to him over the last year." This helped me understand that a relationship only grows by getting to know someone, not assuming to know someone based on their background. I think this is a great example for children and for them to be kind to people they don't know.
Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from two children that come from totally different backgrounds and views to two best mates that just see the good side in each other due to the fact that they didn't see each other differently. Just children. This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, that people from any type of background can become friends. It's not about where you come from or what race you are, it's about who you are. In my opinion, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas definitely shows how two complete strangers (Bruno and Shmuel) with completely different circumstances and situations can become friends because they are just two children who want a friend.
