The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

In the books The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, several similarities between the characters, themes, and settings can be pinpointed, despite the fact that they were written by various authors. Although the two authors held different intentions for writing their books, the time frame and event they set the novel in allowed it to hold several similarities, like the main character’s personalities and encounters that they experience throughout each novel, or the considerable amount of themes illustrated. The vast transformation the two characters contact is relatable

The main characters in the two books both go through a journey in each of their stories, and we can evidently observe the immense changes

Corresponding to Bruno, Henry finds the uncomfortable changes occurring around him, the discrimination of Asians in America, annoying. Just like how Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas experiences distressing behaviours of his parents, Henry goes through comparable events. For instance, the Americans are at war with the Japanese, and so forth developing a hatred between the two nations. Therefore, the Americans begin treating the Japanese people living in the United States in an awfully poor way. This unfortunately affected Henry in a monstrous fashion, because although he is Chinese, he is oftenly mistaken as Japanese, which results in bullying from his peers. He often struggles with the idea of being an enemy to the white, as “Henry wasn’t sure which was worse, being picked on for being Chinese or being accused as a Jap”(Ford 53). Furthermore, at his all-white school, he meets a Japanese American girl named Keiko. Just as in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, where Bruno becomes best friends with Shmuel, Henry instantly emerges as best friends with Keiko. However, the relationship between the Americans and the Japanese materializes into another struggle for Henry, as the Americans send all Japanese American people to internment camps, including Keiko. This creates a similar barrier that restricts the freedom and rights that Bruno and Shmuel, along with Henry and Keiko have to properly advance their friendship. The fence that separates Bruno and Shmuel relates to the obstacles the Americans sets on the Japanese, as it demonstrates an example of an outside force preventing each friendship to advance. This evidently causes stress among Henry and Keiko, as they believe that it is unlikely for them to possibly see each other again. However, Henry finds a way to continue visiting Keiko. The way Henry aggressively carries on in his