Examples Of Empathy In 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas'

What is empathy ? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the emotions and experiences of others, connecting us on a deeper level and fostering compassion and understanding in a fast-paced world. With empathy you can do wonders in a friendship. Bruno is a young boy who moved because of his father's job. Bruno would find a concentration camp and find a boy called Shmuel, he later on befriend him.Later on Bruno and Shmuel are as tight as a two people could so while they were in the gas chamber they held hands and told each other it will be alright.Through his use of character development, John Boynes' The Boy in striped pyjamas shows that loyalty and empathy build up a trustful friendship, it will cause you to stick together in everything

At the beginning of the book, when Bruno first moves houses to the suburb because of his dads job as a Nazi. He saw the concentration camp, and he wondered who the people were and why they looked miserable and sad. During the story, Bruno was walking around the concentration camp fence and saw a boy. Bruno decided to walk up and talk to him because he was lonely. He walked up to him and asked him his name, and he said it was Shmuel. Bruno asks why his skin is grey looking and why he has those striped pyjamas. Unfortunately, because Shmuel is Jewish, Bruno says to Shmuel while holding his hands in the gas chamber and tries to comfort him by telling him how important he is to him.``As he sat down on the bench next to Shmuel and looked around him, he felt a great sense of comfort. There was something about the other boy that made him feel less alone.``(pg65) This quotation exemplifies that Bruno finds empathy in Shmuel's presence even though they just met he felt the boy was nice and trustworthy.This connects to my thesis statement because even though they met Just a while ago Bruno feels comfortable in Shmuel's presence. This also portrays character development because before Bruno was judging them for looking miserable and gloomy. According to John Boynes, the main attribute of friendship is empathy to your

Bruno gives Shmuel some food for him to eat, at first Shmuel hesitated because he was fearful that Lieutenant Kotler would catch him and beat him. He finally gave in and had a bit of it, then a Lieutenant Kotler walked in and saw the grease on Shmuel’s mouth. Shmuel said Bruno gave it to him, but Bruno freezed up and said he didn't know who Shmuel was. Afterward, Bruno felt deeply ashamed that he’d denied his Friendship with Shmuel. After this, Bruno went to the meeting spot at the fence every day, but Shmuel didn't show up for about a week. Next time he came, he had bruises all over his face but said his cuts didn't hurt. Bruno apologised repeatedly. Shmuel raised the fence and pushed his hand underneath it. Bruno took his hands and shook it while apologising.“ I can’t believe I didn't tell him the truth " ”Shmuel I’m ashamed of myself” Shmuel smiled and nodded and Bruno knew he was forgiven.(pg134). This quotation exemplifies that Bruno and Shmuel will never leave each other and always forgive and forget. The author's use of “Bruno knew he was forgiven '' shows that Shmuel will never leave Bruno, and that is a pillar in the Colosseum of empathy. As a result of Shmuel forgiveness of Bruno, they continue being friends and are even closer than before which suggest that if you have empathy you will never leave each other. In