The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an unsettling Holocaust novel written by Irish novelist John Boyne. This young adult novel features an extraordinary friendship between two boys on the opposing side without forgetting to vividly portray the horrors of war.

What types of children during that time do Bruno and Gretel represent respectively? How does Gretel’s character demonstrate Nazi’s indoctrination of children?

Bruno’s mother once said that “We don’t have the luxury of thinking.” What was she implying, and how does that relate to her dissatisfaction about living in Out-With? How does Boyne use Bruno’s mother and grandmother to look into the topic of how the experiences of war of women usually differ from that of men?

In this novel, the narrator gives conventionally humorous puns a dark twist when she comes up with solemn puns like Out-With or Fury. How does Bruno’s mispronouncing reveal the multiple meanings behind these words? How does the combination of puns and dramatic irony remind readers of the horrors of the situation? 

What do you think about Bruno’s father and his transformation at the final pages of the story? What does Maria’s description on Father’s kindness as well as Father’s claim on how Jews are ‘not people at all’ reflect about the Nazis he represents?