Keep children's innocence and friendship

According to an adage “Parents are mirrors of their children” when the children are young, they observe their parents and follow them. This is because children are only exposed to their parents and their faiths from young. As they get old, most of the children would accept the belief and try to live according to it. In the book The Boy in Striped Pajamas written by John Boyne, Bruno’s parents force him to follow the same idea with them. The author tried to communicate that the truth held by parents are not always right and forcing to believe same belief with their parents is wrong by using subjects include children’s innocence and friendship, human nature, and gender inequality.

     Based on their experience and understanding of the world, some people might say that children know nothing, and therefore their opinion is unacceptable. However, in my opinion, their innocence and the pure view opens different perspective toward the world. For example, in this book, Bruno became a friend with Shmuel who is in the concentration camp. However, the parents are taken captive to the fixed thought that everyone except German is not helpful to be alive. Furthermore, the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel implies that the children do not care about their race or situation, however, the wrong thoughts are brainwashed due to the parents and peer. The faiths of parents are not the truth is shown via the relationship between two children. Consequently, faith and view are developed throughout life, not when people are young. 

On top of that, due to human nature, people always sin. In the book, the father of Bruno is one of Nazi committee and he believes that he is doing what is right. As a reader, we can easily see that the choices made by the father are cruel and he should not kill anyone or attempt to kill. Before his son dies in the concentration camp, he was proud of what he is doing, and he also let his children learn about the faith. Nevertheless, after his son dies, he realizes that killing Jews are the same as killing his son and has an insight of righteous. This supports the main composition of the postmodernism which is there is no absolute truth. In addition, this indicates the incompleteness of the parent’s belief. Hence, by human nature, people are meager, so it impossible to reach the absolute truth, thus, children should not just adopt the views of their parents but to seek for the truth.

Lastly, the gender inequality shown in the book adds the depth of his opinion that people are not always right and imperfect. Bruno’s mother expresses her opinion and emotion to her husband throughout the book. However, whenever she mentions the camp next to their house, he ignores or tries to persuade her. Also, the predominance of the father over the family shows that there was gender inequality in the family and society. This implies that women did not have the authority to decide about the family and they had to obey their husband. This has a negative impact on children because they can easily believe that women are in a lower position than men. This exposure makes harder for people who support to reduce prejudice. Gender inequality is not true but socially forced norms. Everyone knows that inequality is wrong, therefore, people should try to reduce discrimination. In order to reduce separation, the new generation and the old generation should cooperate instead of forcing each other to accommodate their views. 

In conclusion, the book, The Boy in Striped Pajamas, messages the readers to criticize the view that others believe. As the objection becomes more offensive to the others, people might be afraid to give their own opinion but, criticizing and adopting revised view is significant for the present and the future.  

Boyne, John, 1971-. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas : a Fable. New York :David Fickling Books, 2006. print