boy in the stripped pyjamas - Essay

 In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is…friendship

First, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel had some jealousy, because Bruno said, “It's not fair me being stuck over here on my own while you're over there playing with your friends.” The reason Bruno would've been jealous must’ve been because he didn’t understand what Shmuel was there for. This helped me understand that Bruno didn't understand what Shmuel was really there for and that no one had explained to him why Shmuel was there.

Later, the relationship gets better between the two boys and they sit by the fence everyday and Bruno brings food for them to eat together. Bruno really wanted to hang out with Shmuel, we can see that because Bruno says “Perhaps you can come and have supper with us sometime”. I realised that even though they were being separated by a fence, the two boys were very similar, and would do anything to hangout with each other.

At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now stronger and they were best friends. We can see this when Bruno says, “You're my best friend Shmuel. My best friend for life” That's when I realised that they had a very strong relationship, and that even though they were very different and were separated by a fence and lots of rules, they still became the very best of friends.

Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from jealousy to very best of friends due to the commitment that was put in by the both of them. Like how Bruno would bring food for Shmuel and would wait for Bruno to come visit him everyday. This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, that some people are better to be around no matter what the difference is.

In my opinion, Bruno and Shmuels relationship has made me realise how good my friendships are, and that we can go around and work through any differences we might have.