Chapter 7

In this chapter, we can see how Bruno instead of being bored decides to take action and create a swing with rope and a tyre. For this he asks Lieutenant Kotler help, who Bruno sees flirting with her sister. In this specific scene we can see the age difference between Bruno and Gretel, since Gretel is entering on adolescence and she is becoming interested in boys and flirting, while Bruno sees that as a repulsive and strange behavior. At that moment, Bruno interrupts their conversation and Kurt, the Lieutenant, makes a joke he doesn’t understand. Gretel takes the chance to be funny and makes fun of Bruno’s young age for not understanding the anecdote, to what Bruno responds that she shouldn’t be pretending to be older than she is, because it makes her look ridiculous in front the higher authority. Later on the Lieutenant Kotler is very rude and disrespectful to Pavel, an old man that prepares and serves the meals for the family, who ask him to take the boy to the storage. Bruno felt ashamed by Kotler harshness and cruelty, but forgets about it in a few minutes when playing with his constructed swing. While enjoying himself, Bruno loses his grip and falls off the tyre and into the ground, where he injures his knee; Pavel used to be a doctor, so kindly he offers his help to cure the wound by putting some bandage. Until Mother arrives with a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face when seeing Bruno talking to the servant, she sends him inside and tells the old man to never mention that he took cared of the boy’s injury, specially not to the Commandant. Bruno heard his Mother and though she was being selfish for taking someone else credit, but it was actually very brave, because from what I can guess this old man was a Jewish that was taken and obligated into working in Out-With.