Boy In The Striped Pajamas Conflicts

War is a difficult situation that affects all sides of it. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne captures this feeling and tells the tale of two young boys with a forbidden friendship. There is conflict present in multiple dimensions in this story between a literary sense and the sense of the world itself. The literary man versus fate and man versus self conflict provoke obstacles that would be difficult for anyone to face, let alone two nine year-olds. That being said, they would put on the typical child-like invincibility and try to defy the odds of said obstacles. However, trying was simply not enough as the two boys, Bruno and Shmuel, fail to overcome most obstacles beyond their control. As known by many, the Holocaust and mass

In Bruno’s case, he sits at home alone with his thoughts, which, despite his youth, are still destructive. This man vs. self conflict that ensues inside him is hazardous and eternal for the time being. He lives through the silence and spends his days dwelling in how awful his situation is. He befriends the househelp and talks to them on occasion, but otherwise, he is left to his own devices where he comes to the conclusion that even insects would avoid staying there and that “‘everything here is horrible’” (Boyne 55). However, grim times do not last forever and at some point, the situation begins to look a bit brighter for Bruno. He spontaneously goes adventuring and to his surprise, he discovers a person. A boy his age, wearing so-called striped pajamas. The boy introduces himself as Shmuel, who causes Bruno to feel “very happy all of a sudden” (Boyne 110). The two boys find themselves no longer as lonely as they once were but face another obstacle soon after. There is a fence that separates these two boys that wish to understand how the other lives. One day, they finally accomplish that goal and end up on the same side of the fence. The outcome is unlike anything they could have ever