Boy in the Striped Pajamas (The End..of the film)

Summary:
At the end of the film there are a variety of techniques with the camera that are used in order to give the reader a better sense of what is going on.  When Bruno speaks to Shmuel there is a frame within a frame shot. that is, one can see Shmuel's face through the wire fence. Shmuel is usually always looking down. Many times while him and Bruno are having their conversations there is an over the shoulder shot which shows how Bruno looks at Shmuel, and how Shmuel doesn't lift his head up. On the other hand when mother begins to realize the change that is happening in her household, with her children there are close ups on her face.

 For example when she walks into Gretels room and notices the pictures on the wall, the camera zooms into her face and on can see how befuddled she is.  Another time Mother's reaction as shown through camera work was when she found out that the Jews were being burned. There was a medium shot, where the reader can see her chest moving faster and faster and her eyes filling with disgust as Kotler walks away. When she confronts father about it, they argue, because she is very very angry. However when the father begins to speak, there is both a high angle shot and a low angle shot. With the low angle shot one can see how furious the father is and how mean he acts towards is wife. With the high angle shot one sees how vulnerable and afraid the mother is as the father yells back at her, making him seem superior to her.

On the other hand there is another over the shoulder shot when Kotler yells at Shmuel for talking to Bruno, this shows that Bruno is not looking at Kotler but instead looking directly at Shmuel's face. When Kotler turns to yell at Bruno to confirm if Bruno was Shmuel friend, the camera faces up in a Low Angle shot. This then makes Kotler look threatening, for that reason Bruno lies. In the next few scenes, when Bruno continues to look for Shmuel in order to apologize, there are dissolving transitions between scenes.

When the soldiers are watching a movie on the life in the camps there is a long shot, which is meant to emphasize the character. One can see the giggling soldiers, the serious ones, and the ones like Kotler who simply stared at Father the entire time. On the other hand when the tutor was telling Gretel and Bruno about how bad the Jews were there is a close up on the tutor. His eyes turn a bit red, and his face is tight though he is extremely angry.

Quote: Bruno: "Shmuel can we go to the cafe or something?"

            Shmuel: "Cafe?"
            Bruno:"Maybe I should go home" (scene 15).

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Bruno and Shmuel separated by a fence. 

In this scene there is a close up on Bruno's face as well as an over the shoulder shot as he walks through the camps and notices the people's sad faces together with the horrible living conditions. With the close up one can see the fear and tad bit of confusion that Bruno has. With the over the shoulder shot, one can see the Jews looking miserable, as well as Shmuel's confusion when Bruno asks about a cafe. In my opinion this was a very important scene because is was an eye opener for the reader who, just as Bruno, had been on the other side of the fence.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Then End)

Summary:
In this last section Bruno finally sees his friend Shmuel on his side of the fence, in fact, he was in his house.   That is because Lieutenant Kotler told him to clean the glasses for the party they were having for Father's birthday. When Bruno saw him in his kitchen he know that something was not right with him being there however he was happy that there was not a fence separating them. When Bruno offered him some food, Shmuel continued to say no, because he knew that he would get in trouble, however Bruno felt that there was no way that he could get in trouble by a man like Kotler, who did not own the house. For that reason he shoved the food into Shmuel's hand; Shmuel hesitated but after looking at the door to make sure no one was there, he shoved the food in his mouth and gulped it down in a matter of seconds. not too long after that, while the boys were talking Kotler walked into the kitchen and asked Shmuel if he was talking to Bruno instead of doing what he was told to do. He then went closer to Shmuel's face and asked if he had been eating, and he stole food from the refrigerator. Shmuel said no, and that his friend Bruno had given it to him. When asked if Shmuel was his friend and if they have ever spoken, Bruno denied everything and was sent out of the kitchen. Bruno felt so ashamed of what he had done that after a few days of not seeing Shmuel he apologised for being such a bad friend; Shmuel forgave him although he had a black eye.

In this last section there were some changes. Kotler no longer worked there, he was sent away to another camp. Grandmother died, and according to father, Grandfather had become senile. Gretel no longer played with dolls, in fact  she threw all of them away and focused more on the news. She didn't pay mind to Bruno any longer, which slowly made Bruno thing she wasn't a Hopeless case any longer. He actually had a conversation with her, in which he found out that the people on the other side of the fence are Jews, the opposites, which is them, do not like. The two groups did not get along and according to Gretel there was no way of changing that. The biggest change that occurred was that mother was becoming less fond of this new place she had been living in for more than a year. She slept more, and was getting depressed. However, what made her speak up was the fact that both Gretel and Bruno had gotten lice. Bruno cried when they cut his hair. He now looked like his Shmuel, and now that they had something else in common, Bruno had to leave. Mother had had it, and wanted to go back to Berlin. At first father did not agree with her decision and was not going to allow it, but when Bruno told him that he could see the hundreds of kids from his window father felt it was, just as mother had said, a place that was not for the kids. although Bruno couldn't see the hundreds of kids from his window he know this was true because he had been talking to Shmuel every day for more than a year.  They became very close, and Bruno did not want to leave now.

 After a few days without seeing Shmuel, he told him that he was leaving. Shmuel also dropped some horrible news, which was that his father was missing, and is no where to be found, although he had done some exploring. Both boys then realized that they only had a few days left with each other, and that they had never played together as normal friends do. Then Bruno devised a plan. Because he now looked like a fatter version of Shmuel, because he was bald just like him and all the other people on that side of the fence, Bruno was to come back the next day and change into a pair of stripped pajamas that Shmuel was to bring him. Then after doing so he was going to go under the fence on to the other side, and see how Shmuel's side was, play with him, and search for his father. The next day, although there was a lot of rain, They met up by the fence and did what they had panned. After searching and seeing how miserable these people were Bruno felt it was time for him to go home. Right there and then, the soldiers decided that a group of the Jews begin to march. Bruno and Shmuel happened to be in that group. After the march they were pushed into a dark room. Bruno was never seen since then. Mother moved back to Berlin with Gretel in hopes of finding her son waiting for on the steps of the house. Father was hated by all the other soldiers because he bossed them around so much, and every night he went to sleep he thought of Bruno. One day he remembered of an area where he did not close the fence properly, and he went straight to it, and there was all of Bruno's clothes.

The striped Pajama

Quote:"As it turned our, all the things that he thought might be there - weren't"(Boyne 207).

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 Here, Bruno had realized that all that he had imagine to be on Shmuel's side of the fence was wrong. He noticed that the life that Shmuel was living was worse than his. I think this was like a small lesson, because in the beginning he was so angry about where he live and felt that it was os unfair that Shmuel had many friends his age living with him, without understanding why Shmuel did not like it at all, but now he knows why.

Boy In the Striped Pajamas(150)

Summary:
In this next section Bruno does more of his exploring even if it is from his new bedroom. He notices that when he looks out the window he can see more people like Pavel, in stripped pajamas. This then motivates him to explore even further. One day he walked and walked deeper into the forbidden section of Out-With and sees a little dot, and as he continues to walk the dot slowly became a boy behind a fence. He approached the boy and asked him a few questions. They came to find out that they were both born on April 15,1934, making them both nine year old boys. Bruno found the boy interesting because he had a different name, Shmuel, was from a different place, Poland, and seemed to have a better life on that side of the fence. Bruno felt it was unfair that he had to leave behind his friends in Berlin and come to Out-With and have no friends on this side of the fence, while Shmuel, on the other side of the fence, had to leave Poland to come to Out-With and have many friends his age to play with. However in reality Bruno was living a much better life than Shmuel. Shmuel explained to Bruno how his leave was just as Bruno explained to Shmuel.


Shmuel's father worked making and fixing watches, and together with his mother, brother, and father Shmuel lived in a flat on top of his fathers store. His father had given him a watch which was very fancy and which he loved a lot. Then one day a soldier took it from him. That was when things began to change for him in Poland. Later on Shmuel's mother had to make bands that had a star on it and every time one of the family members went outside they had to wear the band. Not to long after their family could no longer live in their own home, instead they had to say in one room with another family, which all together made eleven people in one room. Later on Shmuel's mother was taken away, and together with his father and brother he was  brought to Out-With.


Bruno had an amazing life in Berlin where he lived in a house with five floors. His father was a very well respected soldier who always had rules for the family. His father one day announced to the family that the Fury was going to come to the house, and has invited himself to dinner. Mother was a bit upset because her plans had to be canceled for that day, and she had to begin planning and preparing for a dinner that was two nights away. His father gave out his rules the children on how they were to greet the Fury, an then stay in their rooms for the rest of the night. The Fury was the man who ran the country, and for that reason everything had to go perfect. The night the Fury came, accompanied by a tall kind woman, he barely showed any respect for the children or the house. After being greeted, he walked straight into the dinning room and sat in Father's chair. Bruno did not like this at all but could do nothing about it. Later on that night after they left, Bruno over heard bits and pieces of Mother and Fathers conversation. A couple of days later, Bruno had to leave Berlin to come to Out-With.


Both boys missed their old home, and although each thought their home was better, they knew that their new friendship should not be messed up because of a disagreement. For the next few days, without letting anyone know, Bruno would walk deep into the forbidden area to meet his friends on the other side of the fence. They would talk, and Bruno would bring him food; Shmuel was very skinny, and hungry.  One day while putting food in his pocket for Shmuel, Maria walked into the kitchen and they began to talk about Pavel. Bruno came to find out that Pavel, just as Shmuel, came from Poland, and was brought to Out-With. He is no longer allowed to be a doctor, but he is a doctor, just as he had said. Pavel was a good man, but here he was treated unfairly, and Bruno saw this when Lieutenant Kotler grew extremely angry with Pavel. They were having dinner, and after pouring whine for Father, Pavel accidentally poured whine all over Kotler. What happened to him next was not described in this section, however it was so bad that Bruno began to cry, and Gretel grew pale.


Quote:
 " 'We wore the armbands for a few months,' he said 'And then things changed again' "(Boyne,127).


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This quote reminded me of Night by Elie Wiesel, and how things changed so quickly for Eliezer and his family. In both situations the change was very quick. In this quote, Shmuel is telling Bruno how his life continued to change while he was in Poland until he left. By him saying the word again, it made me feel   lucky that if there is change in my life I am at least warned, and if I am not it usually happens so slowly that I can prevent the situation from getting worse. However for people like Pavel, and Shmuel, there are no warnings.