The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider the novel’s use of malapropisms like “Out-With” and “the Fury.”

• How do the connotations of these mangled words relate to the terms they derive from? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the novel’s use of these words in depth, drawing on at least three separate passages to support your claims.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to state what these malapropisms tell us about children’s understanding of war.

2. Consider the novel’s second-to-last line: “Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again” (Chapter 20).

• What is Boyne implying with this statement? (topic sentence)
• Identify three additional passages in the novel that support your interpretation of this line and explain how they do so.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss how this statement relates to Boyne’s depiction of war or humans’ propensity to dehumanize one another.

3. Consider the novel’s characterization of Bruno and Shmuel.

• How do the two boys compare to one another in appearance, background, and/or behavior? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the boys in detail, using at least two pieces of textual evidence to support your claims about each.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss why the novel positions Bruno and Shmuel as mirrors of one another.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider Lieutenant Kotler and his behavior throughout the novel. How does he interact with other characters, including Shmuel, Gretel, and Bruno’s parents? What does the novel imply regarding his motivations? What role does Kotler play in developing the novel’s ideas about war and/or dehumanization?

2. Explore to what effect John Boyne uses a child’s perspective throughout the novel. What textual elements—word choice, tone, etc.—remind us that we are witnessing events primarily through Bruno’s eyes? How does this perspective lend itself to the novel’s themes?

3. Strongly allegorical works tend to feature flatter characters because their goal is not psychological realism but rather symbolism. Is this true of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas? Are some characters more complex than others? What are the implications of this in terms of the novel’s meaning?