These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

One of the most striking aspects of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is Boyne’s decision to tell a story of the Holocaust through the eyes of a young, sheltered child. Thinking about your own life, are there ways in which your understanding of a serious topic or event has shifted as you’ve grown older? How did you make sense of this issue or occurrence when you were younger? Do you feel that you now understand it in a deeper or merely different way, and is that a good thing?

Teaching Suggestion: One could argue that certain things—not just the large-scale traumas of war, racism, etc. but even more private losses and hardships—inevitably escape full human understanding, but it’s nevertheless true that adults tend to process such events differently than those who are very young. This difference or gap in understanding underpins The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, imbuing the story with dramatic (and ultimately tragic) irony: Bruno lacks the knowledge and experience to understand the darker aspects of what is going on around him, and this ultimately contributes to his death.