The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: A Fable. Oxford: David Fickling, 2006. Print. (218 pages)

            In his book, John Boyne took the horrors of the Holocaust and turned them into a tragic story about  two little boys and a fence. He told that story through a child’s eyes by keeping it very naïve while still keeping the integrity of the very serious and solemn subject matter. Some examples of his naïve story telling can be seen in calling the concentration camp Auschwitz “Out-With” and referring to all adults as grown-ups. It was rather surprising that even though the story was written in third person, it was still seen through the eyes of a child. Boyne was very talented in doing this.

            Even though this story was not necessarily true, it was no less moving than any other book about the Holocaust that I have read. I have read many books containing first person testimony of the horrors of the concentration camps but this story was different while being the same. Odd, right? It was different in that it was not a true story (although it could very well have happened) and all of the books I have read have been completely based on truth and first hand experiences. This book is written in the third person and is a made up fable. This book is also different because it mainly shows the non-Jewish German child’s point of view. All other books I have read on this subject center around teenaged Jewish Europeans being forced into ghettos and concentration camps. This book was the same in that it was every bit as emotional and horrific as the other books. Just because it was the flip side of the Holocaust didn’t mean it took a different stance on it. It kept the same message as the firsthand stories.

            This book was very interesting and kept me engaged the entire time. It was a fairly fast read and was not as challenging as I predicted it would be. I would recommend that anyone interested in reading about the Holocaust read this book. (351 words)