Boy in the striped PJ's Chapter 11/12

What are the main themes of the novel so far? I would say that the main theme so far is a historical theme. You can see this very clearly because its based off the holocaust. The characters in the book, Bruno, Maria, they aren't real and the story may not have been off a real story, but the things going on around them are real. Innocence, friendship, inequality, fear, ignorance are all other main themes of the story, inequality and innocence are probably also two of the main themes, since equality was one of the main reasons for the war in the first place

What are the main techniques? Allusion, juxtaposition, imagery, alliteration and similes.

Think of 5 important questions for each of these two chapters about how important motifs and themes play a role in each chapter. 

When the Fury came to dinner, how did Bruno's innocence cover up who the Fury was and what he was asking of his father?

How is the stereotypical German portrayed when the Fury and his wife come over for dinner?

If Bruno had understood what was going on around him, with the war and everything with the fury (who he is, what he does) do you think his view would be different.
Who is eve and what is ironic about her being with Hitler.

Chapter 12

In chapter 12 how does Bruno's innocence and his age and knowledge cover up the fact that Smuel is a Jew and why he's not allowed outside of the fence?

Does the fence dividing Bruno and Smeul resemble anything?

Does Bruno feel sorry for the position that Smuel is in, or does he see Smuel as lucky?

Does the theme of equality play a big role in this chapter. Why,why not?

Boy in the striped PJ's Chapter 10

(105) What does the progression of 'dot' to 'boy' tell us about the role of exploring and meeting the people in the camp? What does this represent about how other Germans view the Jews? The Germans saw the Jews as dots, not people or humans but a dot. When Bruno sees the dot he goes forward and realizes that its a boy, its like saying that if the Germans explored more into the Jews, they may find that there not that different.
(109) What effect does the boys both having the same birthday have? That even though Shmuel is a Jew, there not very different from the Germans, hence the same birthday.
(113-4) What do Bruno and Shmuel 'argue' about? What does Bruno decided to stop the argument? Which place is nicer, Berlin or Poland, and he says we have to agree to disagree
(115) What does Bruno's last question reveal to Shmuel? What do you think Shmuel thinks of Bruno because of asking this question? He doesn't really understand what's going on

Boy in the striped PJ's Chapter 9

(pg95-96) How is Lt Kotler portrayed? Why is he portrayed this way? (remember that 'how' is asking about literary techniques) He is portrayed that he is the most important person in the world because he wears his black polished boots. But when he isn't doing work for father he is outside talking to Gretel. So Bruno is thinking that there are two sides to Kotler in a way. He is portrayed in alliteration with the black boots. 
What is Herr Liszt going to 'change' for Bruno? (98) He is going to change what Bruno is reading, and pretty much by doing s, change the way Bruno looks at life. He is sort of going to take away his imagination and by giving him books on history, it may possibly change or take away some of his innocence.
(100) What connection does Bruno make between the people in the camp and the people that come and visit his house all the time? That they are not the same, they wear different things and they do different things, they have different expressions and he was wondering who was important and who wasn't, and who exactly put these people in charge. The connection he made is that one side is better than the other.
What some of the things that Bruno begins to take notice of regarding the relationship between the soldiers and the people in 'pyjamas'? That the ones in uniforms are a lot more sharper than the ones in pyjamas and that the ones in pyjamas do what the ones in uniforms say.

Boy in the striped PJ's Chapter 7

1. How is the mother's defence of Herr Roller entirely ironic? She is being defensive about a man on the street where there are Jews in concentration camps behind there house where she isn't doing anything about it.
2. What role does Kotler represent historically in the novel? (think beyond being a soldier) That before he became a Nazi, he had a childhood with friends and he had fun, it wasn't all just war or planning to capture the Jews
3. What character is Kotler juxtaposed with in this chapter? What effect does it have on understanding each of these characters? The Juxtaposition is in  this chapter is Bruno's childhood and Kotler's childhood. Bruno's childhood was happy, except there was a war going on and he didn't even realize whereas Kotler's was without war, a better childhood before the war where he didn't have to move because of his fathers work for the Germans
4. How would you compare the interaction Bruno has with Pavel to all the other interactions Bruno has had with adults? 
5. Why is juxtaposition a key technique employed in Holocaust texts? How has it been used in The Boy in the Striped PJ's?

Boy in the striped PJ's Chapter 6

• On pg 60 Bruno reveals a radical shift in his perspective and understanding of Maria. What is this radical shift? What does this show is developing in Bruno? Through out the book so far, Bruno has thought of Maria as just the house maid, he has never really thought of her as having feelings or really ever having a past life. In this chapter, the radical shift is that Bruno realizes Maria really does have a history and a past which causes Bruno feel sorry for her and stick up for her when Gretel comes in and orders her to set up the bath for her.

• Compare how Bruno and Gretel treat Maria. Bruno treats Maria as one of the family, you can see this when he asks for her opinion of moving in to Out-with. Gretel on the other hand treats her like a maid, talks down to her and orders her to do things
• (pg 65) What is Maria's advice to Bruno about 'keeping safe'? Why do you think that she gives this advice? Do you think that it is good or bad advice?  'Just keep quite about it, Bruno. Don't you know how much trouble you could cause' is the advice she gives Bruno. She is trying to keep Bruno advice but what is ironic is that she is the maid, and she is giving him advice instead of vice versa. She is practically telling Bruno that if he keeps quiet than he will be safe.
• (65-6) What is Bruno's reaction to his new thoughts/feelings? Why do you think that he reacts this way? He has a reality check on Maria, meaning that he see's her in a new way, a way of 

Boy in the striped PJ's chapter 5

1. What does it say that we only actually meet the father in the book in Chapter 5 even though he is the one causing much of the action in the book? It makes the father seem a bit mysterious, because he had done so much in the book so far, moving house, bringing the fury in, though we haven't really had a good description of him yet. As well as a mysterious feel, if it wasn't for him then Bruno wouldn't have had to move and none of the complications for Bruno wouldn't have happened
2. the mother says: ‘We should have never let the Fury come to dinner. Some people and their determination to get ahead.’ What theme does this introduce regarding the role of ambition and causing harm? That the fury, even though they really haven't done anything against there family, has still caused pain and disappointment.
3. How does Bruno's father speak to him? Give an example to support your answer.
4. How would you compare the way Bruno speaks about the world to his father's? Do they both comment about what is going on around them the same? Bruno sort of speaks the same way as his father, since he says that he wants something and the way he demands for it.But they both relate to one another's point of view.
5. How does the father rationalise every concern that Bruno has? Yes, an example of this is when Bruno says 'i want to go home' and his father replies with 'home is where the family is'. it makes Bruno seem that his father isn't really listing what he wants and is ignoring his main concern.
6. What is ironic about what the father says when he comes around the desk and talks to Bruno about his childhood? He says tho make the best out of a bad situation, like when his father said to him to do so. It is ironic because he is saying to do the right thing when he is working for the Nazi's and killing Jews
7. Do you think that the father really cares about Bruno? Why/why not? I think he does care for Bruno, but he doesn't really pay attention about his feelings or his thoughts because he is just a kid.
8. Do you think that Bruno understands what he is saying when he says 'Heil Hitler!'? No, because he doesn't really know what the situation is, why they moved to out-with and if he did, he may have paid more attention
9. How is juxtaposition used in Bruno's description of their boarding the train to Auschwitz? He was sitting in an opened space carriage, thinking that it was bad but when people don't have the luxury of that, all being cramped in one carriage, where there's no room, sort of like the juxtaposition of the house in Berlin and Out-with
10. What is Bruno's reason for not saying anything to the Jews on the crowded train? How is this a representation of the greater German population?

Boy in the stripped PJ's chapter 4

• (pg 31) How does the author continue to use juxtaposition in regards to the two housing situations? (the Jews and Bruno's family) Bruno's old house was big, and fun to be in, and had heaps of space. But when Bruno looks out the window to the Jew's houses/huts, they were only one story tall, and they weren't close together and they didn't look very friendly. In Berlin, Bruno had freedom, but here it feels like he was trapped behind the tall fence.
• What is it about the children that makes it difficult to understand exactly what they see through the window and just how bad it is? The narrator doesn't describe them very well, you don't know what they look like, what there wearing, why there there and if there actually Jew's or not. There's no description.
• Summarise how Gretel describes what she sees. She sort of focuses on the land more than the people. She see's a table where she can read in the sun and flowers and makes you feel like that its not so bad. But then, when she looks past the fence, there's no grass, no flowers, and makes the reader feel dark and cold. she see's huts in the distance, and buildings and that there is a 'sand like substance'.
• What does Gretel attempt to do when she sees the Concentration Camp? How does she attempt to understand what she sees? She squeezes her lips and squints her eyes to make her brain work better.
• Is her attempt successful? Does she convince Bruno that she understands? What does she eventually give in to? What does she say/or not say? (pg 32)  She almost convinces Bruno that it is the country side, that there are farms out here and this could be there holiday house. But then Bruno starts to ask questions about if this was a farm, where were the animals, where were the plants, the food and that the land isn't good enough to be growing crops. She gives into Bruno's statements that she is wrong and she agree's with him. 
• What can't the children do when they see the Concentration Camp that the adults seem to be able to do? Which group can understand what they see? Why do you think that this is the case? They can't shout at them or push them around, they don't have to wear those PJ's and they don't have to carry spades and shovels. It separates the groups like a hierarchy, the adults are at the top, Bruno and Gretel are in the middle, and at the bottom are the boys and men in the PJ's
• How does the author use understatement through the children's description of the Concentration Camp? He shows that the children don't really know what's going on, it sort of lets the reader know that this could be a concentration camp, but your not really sure until Bruno see's the PJ's