History Literature / TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas

* DownerEnding: The book ends with [[spoiler:Shmuel and Bruno being gassed in the "showers" and dying. And then there's the epilogue, where Bruno's father somehow figures out what happened to his son. Who's been missing ''for the past year''. Considering this takes place at Auschwitz, it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]]]]. The movie is not any better, as it has been modified such that [[spoiler:Bruno's parents do realize their son is missing and may be within the extermination camp. The father runs into the camp only to find that one of the gas chambers has already begun working. The mother and sister find Bruno's clothes outside the camp and completely break down in tears]].

* TheFilmOfTheBook: Some slight changes but mostly true to the original work.

* TraumaticHaircut: Because Bruno gets infected with lice, his father decides that the solution is to shave his head. This leaves Bruno to cry because not only does he now have a bald head, but his sister was infected as well but didn’t have HER head shaved because she’s a girl. [[spoiler:This becomes a ChekhovsGun because this makes him look very similar to Shmuel, “only fatter”. So, this allows him to blend in with the concentration campers when he goes to the other side of the fence. This is averted in the movie, in which he simply covers his head with a striped cap to make him blend in]].

-->'''Schmuel:''' Play?

-->'''Schmuel:''' It's just my number.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Lieutenant Kurt Kotler. The last time he is mentioned is by Ralph who says Kotler was sent to battle in the East Front, and it is not confirmed if he survives the war, but considering this was the most brutal fighting World War 2 took place in, his chances aren't good.]]

* YouMonster: When Bruno's mother finds out what's ''really'' going on at the camp she starts having frequent fights with her husband (the SS commander of the camp in question), at one point stating that she married a monster whose own mother couldn't even love him.

* PersonWithTheClothing: The '''Boy''' in the Striped '''Pajamas'''

** Bruno thinks Pavel the Jewish manservant is peeling potatoes because he wasn't 'qualified' to be a doctor.
** Bruno thinks the Jewish inmates living on the camp with Shumel are 'farmers' rather than inmates.
** Bruno thinks the uniform Shumel, Pavel and the other Jewish inmates wear are 'pyjamas' and that the tag numbers are part of a 'game'.

** Bruno watches the propaganda film his father, grandfather, Kotler and other Nazis are watching and literally believes the camp is like a place for enjoyment only for him to see the true picture of the camp near the end of the film.
** Shumel believes his father is now working mending boots implying he thinks that is his new job rather than to an extent slavery.
** Arguably the most infamous one is the end when Bruno and Shumel are literally led on the long walk to their demise in the gas chambers and believe they are going for a 'shower' although it is argued the Jewish soldiers simply made it up so there would be no panic as well as the implication they had to use a cover story to hide the fact everyone is getting executed.

!!''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' contains examples of:

* ChildrenAreInnocent: The book depicts the Holocaust from a child's point of view.
** There is a subplot where Bruno's mom has a flirt and maybe an affair with a teenage nazi lieutenant. Bruno's 13-year-old sister also flirts with him, but Bruno doesn't make any connections and thinks Gretel is being silly and that his dad is angry with the young man for some reason unconnected to his mother.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Justified as Bruno and to a lesser extent Shumel who are only 8 years old boys are innocent to the Holocaust:

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler: Kids getting gassed to death is not an idea for anyone]]
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence

* AdultFear: Considering it's a WWII story, ''Heck Yeah.''

* DisappearedDad: Shumel's father literally dissappears as Shumel claims he went away with other inmates and hasn't returned. This indirectly suggests his father was sent to the gas chambers.

* DissappearedDad: Shumel's father literally dissappears as Shumel claims he went away with other inmates and hasn't returned. This indirectly suggests his father was sent to the gas chambers.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Bruno's father is the boss of an extermination camp; his own son is killed in its gas chambers.]]

* TraumaticHaircut: Because Bruno gets infected with lice, his father decides that the solution is to shave his head. This leaves Bruno to cry because not only does he now have a bald head, but his sister was infected as well but didn’t have HER head shaved because she’s a girl. [[spoiler:This becomes a ChekhovsGun because this makes him look very similar to Shmuel, “only fatter”. So, this allows him to blend in with the concentration campers when he goes to the other side of the fence]].

* WouldHurtAChild: When Kotler catches Shumel eating food, he tells him they will 'have a little chat about rats who steal'. Shumel is later seen with a swollen black eye strongly implying Kotler beated him up.

''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a book by John Boyne about a young boy of nine named Bruno, who loved to play with his friends and go to school, among other fun things to do in Germany in the 1940s. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Yeah,]] ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust those]]'' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1940s.]] That is, until his father's job forces his family to move to Poland, particularly to an odd camp called "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Out With]]", which consists of a small house with an odd fence beside it. His older sister, Gretel, informs him that it will only be 'for the foreseeable future", which she figures to be about two weeks.

* FamousLastWords: “And I’m sorry we didn’t really get to play, but [[TemptingFate when you come to Berlin, that’s what we’ll do]]. And I’ll introduce you to... Oh, what were their names again? Actually, it doesn’t matter whether I do or don’t. They’re not my best friends any more anyway. You’re my best friend, [[spoiler:Shmuel]]. My best friend for life.” - [[spoiler:Bruno]].

* FamousLastWords: Two of these examples together:
** “It’s alright.” - [[spoiler:Shmuel]]
** “And I’m sorry we didn’t really get to play, but [[TemptingFate when you come to Berlin, that’s what we’ll do]]. And I’ll introduce you to... Oh, what were their names again? Actually, it doesn’t matter whether I do or don’t. They’re not my best friends any more anyway. You’re my best friend, [[spoiler:Shmuel]]. My best friend for life.” - [[spoiler:Bruno]].

* AdultFear: Considering it's a WWII story, ''fuck yes.''

* HowlofSorrow: In the movie, when Elsa and Gretel find Bruno's clothing outside the fence of the camp and his tell-tale tunnel under the fence and at least one gas chamber is in operation, they guess what has happened and collapse in anguish.
* HypocriticalHumor: Gretel makes fun of Bruno for having an imaginary friend – [[spoiler:he doesn't, he's just covering for Shmuel]] – and walks back to her room to tell her dolls about how ridiculous her little brother is.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The book ends with Shmuel and Bruno being gassed in the "showers" and dying. And then there's the epilogue, where Bruno's father somehow figures out what happened to his son. Who's been missing ''for the past year''. Considering this takes place at Auschwitz, it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]].]]
** The movie is not any better, as it has been modified such that [[spoiler:Bruno's parents do realize their son is missing and may be within the extermination camp. The father runs into the camp only to find that one of the gas chambers has already begun working. The mother and sister find Bruno's clothes outside the camp and completely break down in tears.]]

''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a book by John Boyne about a young boy of nine named Bruno, who loved to play with his friends and go to school, among other fun things to do in Germany in the 1940s. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Yeah,]] ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust those]]'' [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany 1940s.]] That is, until his father's job forces his family to move to Poland, particularly to an odd camp called "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Out With]]", which consists of a small house with an odd fence beside it. His older sister, Gretel, informs him that it will only be 'for the foreseeable future", which she figures to be about two weeks.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The Auschwitz complex actually had two major camps - one extermination, one concentration/work [[note]] for processing the arrivals at the extermination camp and manning the Siemens and I.G. Farben synthetic rubber & petroleum plants in the town. Both camps were built by the concentration camp workforce [[/note]]. There was only one series of experimental gassings (of Soviet POW) in the concentration camp, after which the test-chamber was re-purposed and all incoming prisoners were handled at the extermination camp.

''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a book by John Boyne about a young boy of nine named Bruno, who loved to play with his friends and go to school, among other fun things to do in Germany in the 1940s. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Yeah,]] ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust those]]'' [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany 1940s]]. That is, until his father's job forces his family to move to Poland, particularly to an odd camp called "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Out With]]", which consists of a small house with an odd fence beside it. His older sister, Gretel, informs him that it will only be 'for the foreseeable future", which she figures to be about two weeks.

''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a book by John Boyne about a young boy of nine named Bruno, who loved to play with his friends and go to school, among other fun things to do in Germany in the 1940s. Yeah, ''[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII those]]'' [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany 1940s]]. That is, until his father's job forces his family to move to Poland, particularly to an odd camp called "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Out With]]", which consists of a small house with an odd fence beside it. His older sister, Gretel, informs him that it will only be 'for the foreseeable future", which she figures to be about two weeks.

* UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust: Yes.