The book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" shows themes of humanity, innocence and friendship through the eyes of the son of a Nazi commander who has just moved into "Out-With". This book deals with a topic as important and painful in our recent history as the holocaust. Not from an historical point of view, nor from an adult point of view but it captures the hint of the holocaust in which it has a great impact on our emotions and innocence. This is a story written from the perspective of a 9 year old boy, who lived during World War II.
To contextualize, the Second World War, which occurred between 1939 and 1945, was one of the most ruthless events that occurred in the history of humanity, due to the consequences it left behind and the importance in the
global impact of the countries involved. The war occurred mainly due to the moral, ideological, economic and demographic consequences that were manifested after the First World War (1914-1918), and due to the strong discriminatory waves that emerged in Germany that it would later spread to its allies, consisting of a strong rejection towards the Jews and other minorities that according to such thinking did’nt belong to the historical and cultural body of Germany; thus being persecuted and blamed for the country's problems.
How can war and conflicts affect a child's mindset?
Alone and defenseless in the chaos, some are forcibly recruited into militias and others are exploited. The fundamental rights of these children are blatantly ignored, to the benefit of barbaric and cruel acts. Many of them end up deeply traumatized, badly injured and even disabled.
Consequently, many of these children suffer from sleep disorders, panic attacks, headaches or stomach aches, anxiety and changes in their personality that point to increasingly aggressive behavior. They also present loss of meaning in life, feelings of hate, despair, contempt, anger, rape trauma syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, persistent personality transformations after catastrophic experiences, anguish, depressive disorders.
In conclusion This book not only makes us reflect on the various barriers that human beings have placed throughout history that have separated us from each other for a long time, but also gives us a life lesson, in which it teaches us that it is possible to rediscover the illusion even when we believe that everything is lost. Like many other stories about the concentration camps of the Nazi era, this book conveys the importance of developing our inner richness and giving value to the small details, those that we often overlook in our busy daily lives. "The boy in the striped pajamas" teaches us the value of looking inward in search of meaning and not losing faith in humanity because even in the most difficult circumstances it is possible to find a shoulder in a friend.
