Choose a short passage from your novel that made an impact on you as you read it, that made you stop and think maybe even say "Oh wow" to yourself. It may have made you stop and think because you made a personal connection. It may have made you wonder and ask a question. It may have made you react in some emotional way to the words on the paper. In your response, quote the passage and list the page number that it can be found on. Explain, in detail, why you chose this passage, what reason did you have that made you stop and think or had you reacting in some way. Include your feelings and emotions as well as state any connections you made (text to self, text to text, text to world). An example from another novel of how to start is this:
"Big signs were posted at the pool saying"No Jews or Dogs Allowed". pg 14
As I read this passage I couldn't believe that this could happen. How could the Jewish even be compared to dogs?"
As I read this passage I couldn't believe that this could happen. How could the Jewish even be compared to dogs?"
THIS HAS SPOILERS!!!!! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE DONE THE BOOK!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I brought out of this book is what Bruno did for Shmuel in the end. That shows true friendship risking your own life to try and help your friend. It honestly broke my heart to read what happened to both of them, and I also feel very bad for Bruno's family. They didn't even no what happened to him! I do admit, I cried a lot once I finished the novel, and it has stuck with me ever since that horrid ending.
If you are going to read this, be prepared.
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond
Oops! When I said "They didn't even NO what happened to them," I really meant KNOW not NO.
DeleteSincerely,
Amelia Pond
"Ah, those people," said Father, nodding his head and smiling slightly. "Those people... well, they're not people at all, Bruno." Pg. 53 of Boy in the Striped Pajamas, chapter five.
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense. Of coarse Bruno's father would say that. He's a Nazi! I think it is very terrible to say that those men aren't people. They are, and they are also people who are being held against their own free will. Honestly, I never liked Bruno's father. He acts like he doesn't even care about his children, and when ever Lieutenant Kotler comes over, he makes his children act a lot different than they are. I just never got why Bruno's dad thinks he is so powerful when he is really working for someone who will start a war, and traumatize millions of people. It has always fathomed me how so many people think they are doing good, when really they are being completely terrible without even realizing it!
Another question I have is this: Why do so many people who aren't Jewish, like Bruno's dad, believe that innocent people who are Jewish are bad and terrible people? They are only human, and just like any other human.
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool!!
@Amelia Pond
DeleteI agree with you completely. The fact that bruno's father would say that they aren't human. When he said 'At least not as we understand the term', it really became very powerful for me personally. It's like he's saying they are human, but they are to be treated as less than human. I think that many people believe Jews are to be treated like animals, because of what Hitler persuaded them to think. There were some negative things said about Jews in the past, and Hitler took those things and twisted them to create a believable tale that Jews were horrible. I think that Bruno's father cares more about the money and the benefits he gets from his job rather than the expense of thousands of lives.
What do you think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco :3,
DeleteI never really thought about that! Never had my mind wondered whether Bruno's father was just doing it for the money. Which I think is absolutely as mad as a hatter to think that. Why are their lives more important than any of the other lives around them. They are all equal, but apparently others, like Bruno's father for instance, think otherwise. I just don't get why people think it is okay to blame every single Jew, even if they may be innocent, and then say they are not human on their own account? It's is completely bonkers!
Anything to add to this rant? Comments, questions?
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
@Fangirl! At The Disco
DeleteI totally agree with you, Bruno's father must care about the money and benefits more than anything else in the world. How could he be so monstrous as to care more about the benefits of killing people than his own two children? How could someone who once cared about his own family become so vile and murder so many innocent people under the command of one man? They didn't have to follow his orders, they could have not joined. What do you think made them want to murder people? Something must have gone through their head to make them stop and see that it is so wrong.
@Amelia Pond, @Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteI agree with you on that what Bruno's father is doing is insanely ridiculous, but some people are so caught up in the opportunity of being rich and wealthy that they can't think past their own lives. The thing that I don't understand is what Maria said about him helping her. I wonder why he decided to care about Maria -who probably was the same as some of the people in the camp- and not those thousands of people.
WHat do you think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco,
DeleteI agree with you, why would Bruno's father want to help someone like her who was most likely exactly like the people in the camps. If you remember Maria said that Bruno's father was good friends with either Maria's mother or her father. This must have resulted in him becoming closer with Maria and then feeling bad for her and hiring her. What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteI agree with you that it was probably sympathy that made Bruno's father accept Maria into the family. We never really heard about Maria's father and what he did for a living, so what if he was a high ranking officer, and Bruno's father just wanted to hire Maria out of a possible job raise.
What do you think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco :3
DeleteThat's a good point, we never did hear about Maria's father. In fact Maria never mentioned him. Perhaps he was a high ranking officer, or maybe he fled the country when he heard about Hitler. There are many possibilities of what could have happened to him. Whatever he was or did must have been terrible because Maria will not speak about him. Is she ashamed of him? Was she embarrassed? She was definitely not proud because she would have mentioned him. Maybe he died when she was young and she can't remember him or she's too sad to talk about him. What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteWhat you said really makes me wonder. What did Maria's father actually do? He could have done anything, but I guess we'll never know. Another thing I was wondering about Maria is why she would talk to Bruno about his father. Even though she was very secretive about their conversation, she still talked to him. I wonder why, because if Bruno's father knew about this, he could fire her, and possibly hurt her. Why do you think she talked to Bruno knowing that the consequences could be horrendous?
@Fangirl! At The Disco
DeleteI think that she still talked to him because she and Bruno were pretty much friends. She never wanted to talk to him but Bruno asked her a question and insisted for her to give him an answer. One question led to another and she ended up telling him all of this. She also wanted Bruno to be proud of his father and think of him as horrible even though she knows what he did. Why didn't she warn Bruno about what he does? Would that be taking too far? Would the consequences be too terrible if she was caught? What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteNow that I think of it, your right. she probably talked to him because he had no-one else really to talk to besides Gretel (which he openly describes as a hopeless case) and she had no-one either. Maybe she didn't warn him because of his father's job as the commandant. Maybe it was because she felt that if he could hurt those innocent people in the camp, then he could hurt her. Do you think he would?
@Fangirl At The Disco, and @Sheriff Yogart,
DeleteSorry I haven't blogged here in a bit, been busy!
But wow have you made me think!! Why DID Maria never mention her father? There are many possible reasons. Maybe he left, or died and Maria doesn't like to talk about it. Or maybe Maria's father abused her!? Many possibilities, and no answers.
I do agree with you @Fangirl! At The Disco when you said Maria talked to Bruno about his father. Even if the consequences could have been severe, it wasn't Maria's fault. Bruno was the one who ask Maria what she thought about the new house, and Maria has to answer because she was their maid, and the family holds a very high rank with where Bruno's father is in the war.
What do you guys think?
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
@Sheriff Yogurt, @Amelia Pond
DeleteI agree with you, Amelia, that maybe because Maria was their maid, that she might have been obliged to answer a question like that, but if she was timid about Bruno's father, she wouldn't have and just would have left to make Gretel's bath. Remember when she told Gretel 'to wait for a minute' while she talked to Bruno? I think that this was because she was invested in giving Bruno an answer instead of leaving it be.
What do you guys think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco and @Amelia Pond
DeleteThat's a really good point. I think that Maria was trying to rebel against Bruno's father because she hated everything he was doing, yet, she was too afraid to do it completely. @Fangirl! At The Disco, that's a good point. I think Maria was invested on giving Bruno an answer, which I think really shows how much she needs to tell someone this. What do you think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco, and @Sheriff Yogurt,
DeleteIt may not be that she was intrigued or invested. Maybe she just cared for Bruno. You could clearly tell in the beginning of the book, Bruno was starting to warm up to Maria. I also think that Bruno cares about Maria as well. When Gretel asked, (or more like demanded,) Maria to prepare a bath for her, Bruno stood up and told her to make it her self. Which I agree with because Gretel is thirteen! She should be able to run her own bath. But of coarse, Maria ran the bath anyways. But I still think it was very good of Bruno to stand up for Maria. You can tell she appreciated it.
So overall, I don't necessarily think that she was invested in giving Bruno the answer. SHe just simply cared about him.
Anything to add?
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteIt's a weird situation if you put yourself in Maria's place, because on one hand, theres this man that gave you a job and a home and food on your plate, but on the other hand, that same man is killing millions of people right next door. What would you do? would you rebel against him knowing that you may as well be digging your own grave, or do you live with the burden of serving a mass murderer?
DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ CHAPTER 10 OR 11 AS THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
ReplyDeletepg. 100- "It was as if it were another city entirely, the people all living and working together side by side with the house where he lived. And were they really so different? All those people in the camp wore the same clothes, those pajamas and their striped cloth caps too; and all the people who wandered through his house (with the exception of Mother, Gretel and him) wore uniforms of varying quality and decoration and caps and helmets with bright red-and-black armbands and carried guns and always looked terribly stern, as if it was all very important really and no one should think otherwise."
This passage was really powerful for me. Bruno made quite the discovery that those people were the exact same as him. We all know that the Jewish people were no different than us, so why treat them differently? Why would you ever want to teach your nine year old kid that the Jewish aren't the same as you, that, "They're not people at all."- pg. 53, Bruno's father. I have had past questions about the Nazis and if they would still deliberately kill people when they have a kid and now I know that the answer is yes. Bruno's father doesn't seem to care at all if his kid knew what he did. On page 70 it says that Bruno's father was seen going to the huts to do unimaginable things. Did he even care that Bruno might know? What would Bruno do if he knew what his father did? About the camp... does anyone else remember that Bruno's father said he was pronouncing Out-With wrong and then he corrected it but the author never showed what he said. I realized that Out-With and Auschwitz are pronounced almost the exact same. Especially when Bruno hesitated while reading the plaque on the bench. That means that the camp is Auschwitz. This explains why Bruno always said that the camp looked endless because it went on forever from left and right. That means that Bruno's father is the commandant for Auschwitz. How can Bruno's mother support him on this? One last question I have is, how can a soldier's spouse support them with all the killing especially if they have children old enough to know what they were doing? Would a soldier kill their own child if they tried to stop them? Would they put their own kid in a concentration camp?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteI agree with you, but I'm pretty sure Bruno's father would never kill or imprison Bruno or Gretel in the camp, but I can't say the same about Bruno's mother. I think that Bruno's mother might feel stuck in her position, because she has two children and if she disagrees with Bruno's father on what he is doing she might have feared she would lose everything. I don't think she works either, and if she does, it wouldn't have been near as well paid as being a Nazi soldier for sure. Overall, I don't think she supports him, she just might have been afraid to disagree
@Fangirl! At The Disco
DeleteNow that you say that, it makes sense. Bruno's mother must have been too afraid to disagree, but would he still throw her in the camp or kill her? He may be the commandant of Auschwitz but he married her. People marry out of love, he must love her enough to not kill her or torture her. Unless Bruno's mother only married him for the money. We don't see much friendly interactions between the two, mostly fighting. Did she marry him for the power and money? What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteGood point. Maybe he wouldn't have done that to her, but they certainly don't seem to be getting along very well. For example, on pg. 85, Bruno's mother says 'If the commandant asks, we'll say that I cleaned Bruno up.' This might not seem like a big deal, but on pg. 89, it states something about Bruno's father being addressed as 'commandant'. I wonder why she would call him that and not his actual name (which we never actually learned)?
@Fangirl! At The Disco
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I think that she calls him commandant because she really is afraid. I also think that Bruno's mother was referring to him as commandant for Pavel because he works there. Shouldn't the people who work there refer to the person they work for as their title? For example, Maria refers to Bruno as, "Master Bruno." As for their real names, I think we don't learn any of them because it is told as if it were Bruno talking yet it wasn't him. I don't think a nine year old boy would want to know what his mother and father's real names are because he still thinks that it is mother and father. What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteYou have a point there. Maybe it actually didn't mean anything much, but maybe it did. What I think, though is that they refer to him as commandant because he puts his position as the commandant of Auschwitz before anything else, even his family. LIke we have learned in class, Hitler wanted everyone to put being German first, and being a Nazi was a high rank in German standards back then. I think that he might have preferred being called commandant to anything else, as it showed that he had power, even if that power was over his own family.
What do you think?
@Fangirl! At The Disco
DeleteI never thought of that. Maybe he really did like being called commandant out of pride. It also probably made him feel powerful. If you already had a huge privilege like being a Nazi, then wouldn't you feel powerful if someone called you commandant, one the highest ranks? What do you think?
@Sheriff Yogurt
DeleteI admit, if I had a high ranking like that back then, I would have bragged a bit. But I don't think I would have done it so much that even the people I lived with would call me commandant. I think that Bruno's father likes the attention and there has been loads of evidence showing us that he is very self centred and cares about his job more than anything or any one around him. This might be why he can work in your office, knowing that he lives next to a death camp.
What do you think?
@Fangirl At The Disco
DeleteI know that I most certainly would not be able to work in an office next to a death camp. I think that he can because he is so proud of his rank and what he can do that wants to be next to the camp. I wonder though, why would he need a window facing it? Most people who walk in do not want to look at a death camp. Is it so he can keep an eye on what is going on there? What do you think?
Test.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete”There were crowds of people sitting together in groups, staring at the ground, looking terribly sad; they all had one thing in common: they were all terribly skinny and their eyes were sunken and they all had shaved heads.”-Pg.208
ReplyDeleteThis passage was really meaningful to me, it made me create an image that I will never forget. They were being tortured, being used as slaves, and were being lied to before they got killed. This might seem like a nightmare, but it was reality of WW2.
At the end of the book, I could not put it down. I kept on reading and reading, I was so hooked into the book, but scared for what was going to happen at the same time. I was so frightened, I felt my heart beat.
’Bruno’ she said in a childish voice, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, ‘the fence isn’t there to stop us from going over there. It’s to stop them from coming over here.’ Bruno considered this but it didn’t make things any clearer. ‘But why?’ he asked. ‘Because they have to be kept together,’ explained Gretel. ‘With their families, you mean?’ ‘Well, yes, with their families. But with their own kind too.’ ‘What do you mean, their own kind?’ Gretel sighed and shook her head. ‘With the other Jews, Bruno. Didn’t you know that? That’s why they have to be kept together. They can’t mix with us.’ -pg.181-182
ReplyDeleteThis passage had an abundance of persecution in it because Gretel was explaining to Bruno why the Jews are in the concentration camps and why they are not equal to the Germans. When Gretel said that the Jews ‘can’t mix’ with the Germans, I was in complete shock. The Germans were so afraid that the Jews would taint the German blood line and associate themselves with other people that they put them in camps. In these camps the Jews were deprived of food, water, sleep, and basically everything they need to survive, and the Germans thought that was completely fair. But the worst part is that the Jewish people never did anything to deserve this treatment. They never committed any crimes that would’ve have gotten them into the camps. They were completely innocent. But the Germans thought otherwise, and went after all the Jews. During the book, Bruno would always say that his father, who was the commandant at the time, was a great man and was very accomplished, yet he didn’t actually understand what his father was doing to the Jews, like Shmuel. I wonder if Bruno would have thought differently about his father if he actually understood what his father was doing to these innocent people. Would he have pictured him as a cruel and torturous man rather than a great and accomplished man? This passage was just a lot for me to take in and I’m sure it was a lot for Bruno to take in as well.