Chapter 19

In this chapter is when the “great adventure” takes place. First Shmuel gives Bruno an extra pair of striped pajamas, exactly like the one Shmuel is wearing. Once Bruno is wearing the striped pajamas, he realized how much alike they look now that he has his head shaved; that’s when he realizes how bad the clothe smell, that might be because on the concentration camps people doesn’t worry about hygiene. That’s even one of the reason most people died in there, due to their hygiene and the way they lived. When wearing Shmuel’s uniform he remembers the plays his Grandmother used to put for him and Gretel and how she said that, “Your wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be”. Which inspired Bruno to really act like the people on the other side of the fence. In my opinion it was a pretty elaborate and well though plan, but then again is very stupid because as a reader I know what Bruno is getting into, but he doesn’t that’s why he sees it all as fun and as the adventure of the day. Once Bruno is on the other side, both of them have the desire of hugging one another, but they don’t, and that may be because it’s not consider “manly enough”. While walking toward the camp Bruno is really astonished to discover that it is nothing like he had thought it would be, with many children playing schoolyard games together on the ground and many huts full of happy families. But no, everywhere he turn he saw many angry and horribly sad looking faces and next to this zombie like people, there were the soldiers in their beautiful shining uniforms who were laughing and shouting at them. Stunned by the disappointment of the other side of the fence Bruno says to Shmuel that he doesn’t want to be here, but he reminds him how he had promised to look for Shmuel’s father and for not breaking his promises he stays and starts looking for his father for over an hour. This scene talks well about Bruno, showing us how he really appreciates a true friendship and how he is a man of honor. Finally when the boys give up the search they hear a loud whistle and soldiers surround the area in which they were walking and start pushing them in the center of the mob with a bunch of people going the same way. They are all pushed into a long room, which according to Bruno is “surprisingly warm” and as naïve as usual he thinks there all in this room for shelter and to keep warm from the rain. Finally Shmuel grabs Bruno’s hand because he was shaking of terror and to console his friend Bruno calls him his “best friend for life”; meanwhile when the metallic door is shut an extreme chaos is released from the people in the dark room, but the friends hold tight their hands and never let go. This last scene really moves me and makes me feel sad, but at the same happy and proud thinking that there still is hope for humanity. The Holocaust time was all about discriminating the Jews because of their religion, but here we can see a 9 year-old boy who has no knowledge of this war and with his innocence becomes friend with this “enemy”, having no prejudice or judgment against his ethnicity.