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  • Essay / The boy in the striped pajamas and the night: the horrors of war through the eyes of children

    Children have an aura of innocence and carefreeness, unless they are children of war . No matter which side they're on, whether they win or lose, children will witness something horrible. The film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and the book Night by Elie Weisel express the point of view of a child at war. Although both plays contrast in aspects of war, they also have similarities based on their perspectives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The book Night by Elie Weisel is an autobiography about his time during the Holocaust as a Jew. The novel begins with his life normal, then takes a radically worse turn when he is transferred to Auschwitz. He goes on to describe the horrors of the concentration camps and the cruel treatment meted out by the Germans. However, the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne is about a young boy named Burno, the son of a Nazi commander. He talks about how he was blissfully ignorant and befriended “the enemy.” Burno does the exact opposite of what a normal Nazi kid would do, helping his Jewish friend at a camp right in his own backyard. From these summaries alone, many can see that there are a wide variety of differences between the two pieces. One of the many differences in perspective between them is race. Depending on their origins, this caused a lot of differences at that time because Elie was Jewish and Bruno was German. There would obviously be a contrast because of the war and the Holocaust. Another difference was Bruno's ignorance and Elijah's knowledge of the situation. Bruno never knew what was happening and it cost him his life, and Elijah's information about the camps helped him survive because he knew what to avoid and sacrifice, unlike Bruno. Another difference is their perspective on the camp. Bruno first thought the camp was a farm, then realized it was a camp for Jews, but he never saw the full extent of the cruelty. Elie, however, has a front-row seat to the treatment inside the concentration camps. Through these contrasting viewpoints, there are some similarities between the two boys. Both boys saw these struggles from a child's perspective, unlike most. They were involved in the war, to some extent, and because of this, it caused a rift between them and their fathers. Another similarity is that they were both forced to move, admittedly, for very different reasons, but it affected them by removing the boys from their previous lives. They both lost their friends, their family, and ultimately their innocence to uprooting. The barbed wire in their lives is also a similarity. It was the first sign of the camps for both, like the fence Bruno saw in his garden and the wire wrapped around his old home in the ghettos. These similarities give readers connections throughout the timeline, even if they have multiple contrasting viewpoints. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, despite the many differences between the two articles still have some similarities in perspective. The novel Night and the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas give us a glimpse of the Holocaust from two distinct perspectives. Elie's mission was to tell the story of the dead to honor them and impact the living, and the film also..