The Result of Innocence
James Baldwin once said, “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that
innocence is dead turns himself into a monster”. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, author John Boyne shows that innocence should not be extreme before the truth. It is a novel about the tragic history of Bruno. That for his innocence, he never realized that reality was happening. His
ignorance was so much that it took him to extreme danger and one
unexpected death. In John Boyne’s novel “The Boy in the Striped
Pajamas,” Bruno’s innocence is a negative thing for him when he does not understand who Hitler is, he is being influenced by his parents, and he does not have any idea what is on the other
side of the fence, which shows the reader that the innocence converts the truth
and keeps people ignorant about the reality that even hard is needed to
be accepted .
First, Bruno is naive about the leader of the Nazis. When he is talking with his father he says
“He presumed [Heil, Hitler] was another way of saying, ‘well, goodbye for now
have a pleasant afternoon” (Boyne 54). Here the author shows how innocent Bruno
is, he can not realize what is going on,and he does not know who Hitler
is. Bruno thinks that [Heil, Hitler] is like another type to say “hello” or “have
a nice day.” This is illogical because they are living during a war, and everyone else know the true
meaning of that phrase, which was to show respect towards Hitler who for Bruno
was “The Fury.” If Bruno uses this phrase at any time or use it incorrectly, it
could cause some conflict or problems between him or some members of his family
with the Fury. That is how Buno fails to understand is the boss of his
father.
Second, Bruno tries to follow his father’s ideas. When he is talking with Shmuel and they argue over their nations, Bruno is by have heard said.Bruno says to Shmuel, “ Well,
because Germany is the greatest of countries … We’re superior”’ (Boyne 112).
Here the reader can see how igneous Bruno is; he repeats what he hears
from his father, which causes him to believing that they are the best nation.
Bruno thinks that they can be superior to the other people. He felt wrong after
saying this but at that moment he is so innocent because he was brainwashed by
the ideas that his parents tries to impose. If this had continued later on, he
will be end up becoming as others with the same idea that Jewish people were
less than him. Bruno is being influenced by the words of his father.
Last, Bruno is unsuspicious about what is inside of the concentration camp. When Gretel and
him talk about the concentration camp Bruno says, “’I don’t understand why
we’re not allowed on the other side of the fence’” (Boyne 181). Here the reader
can see that Bruno is ignorant about the concentration camp. He did not have an
idea what that place is. He thought it was a farm, and he never thinks about
the suffering that people have at this place. Bruno does not comprehend that in
that concentration camp, what they actually did was kill people. This leads to
be a negative thing for him since it was such a degree of ignorance, he entered
the other side of the fence and this led to his death. Bruno is ignorant of
what is on the other side of the fence.
In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, Bruno’s
innocence is a negative thing when he has no idea who his father’s boss is, his
parents try to instill their same way of thinking, he does not realize anything
about the concentration camp, which shows the reader that innocence cause
people to do not realize about the harsh times that they are living in. In the
case of Bruno, his innocence makes him never understand what is happening, it
takes this child, who wanted to explore what is on the other side of the fence,
dragging him to his sudden death, not understanding what is going on. Innocence
is like if someone that is blind tries to go to an unknown place for him, he
will probably end up falling and hurting himself.