Theme, Setting, Plot and Characterisation
Is the title of any significance?
The title 'The boy in the striped pyjamas' has extreme significance with a pair of striped pyjamas being the uniform for the Jewish prisoners on the other side of the fence.
What is the central theme of the novel?
The central theme of the novel is the erosion of childhood innocence.
How is the theme developed through the plot, its setting, characterisation?
The theme of the erosion of childhood innocence develops through the plot, as the setting of the Holocaust is no place for a child. Bruno’s childhood innocence is slowly developed by the contrast of the adult’s reality of the Holocaust as he discovers who the boys on the other side of the fence actually are and what the soldiers are doing to them.
What kind of reality is portrayed in the text?
The reality of the Holocaust is portrayed throughout the text in its many forms. This reality is presented to us through the aspects of racism through society, persecution, segregation and the destruction of the human spirit.
What is the writer’s style?
Include some discussion about the use of literary techniques.
John Boyne presents the suspension of reality through structure, sentence length, grammar and chapter usage. He uses a writing style, which outlines the action simply and jumps from event to event with short chapters. John Boyne’s usage of short sentences and lack of grammar assists us to understand what he is putting across to us in the easiest of ways.
The title 'The boy in the striped pyjamas' has extreme significance with a pair of striped pyjamas being the uniform for the Jewish prisoners on the other side of the fence.
What is the central theme of the novel?
The central theme of the novel is the erosion of childhood innocence.
How is the theme developed through the plot, its setting, characterisation?
The theme of the erosion of childhood innocence develops through the plot, as the setting of the Holocaust is no place for a child. Bruno’s childhood innocence is slowly developed by the contrast of the adult’s reality of the Holocaust as he discovers who the boys on the other side of the fence actually are and what the soldiers are doing to them.
What kind of reality is portrayed in the text?
The reality of the Holocaust is portrayed throughout the text in its many forms. This reality is presented to us through the aspects of racism through society, persecution, segregation and the destruction of the human spirit.
What is the writer’s style?
Include some discussion about the use of literary techniques.
John Boyne presents the suspension of reality through structure, sentence length, grammar and chapter usage. He uses a writing style, which outlines the action simply and jumps from event to event with short chapters. John Boyne’s usage of short sentences and lack of grammar assists us to understand what he is putting across to us in the easiest of ways.