Reading Comprehension: Chapters 1-5

1. Why is Maria packing Bruno’s things?

Maria, the family maid, is packing Bruno’s things because they are moving due to Father’s job, who apparently has a high military rank related to Hitler. Bruno’s family is moving form Berlin to a house outside the city, into the fields.

2. Why must Bruno’s father move away to do his job?

Bruno’s father is a military with a high rank, which has been promoted by the Fury to commander of the German Auschwitz concentration camp.

3. What matters most to Bruno in Berlin?

What matters most to Bruno in Berlin are his three best friend in the whole world, Karl, Daniel and Martin; with whom he was planning to create a lot of chaos on the last day of school.

4. What did Bruno hope to see outside his bedroom window?

Outside his window Bruno just keep hoping to see many kids playing, just like back in Berlin. But instead in the distance he saw a house with huge wire fence that where tangled in spirals and there were no joyful color, only dirt.

5. Why do you think Bruno always tries to be honest with himself?

I think Bruno always tries to be true and honest with himself, because since he was the only kid in “Out-With” he didn’t have anyone to talk to or play. His sister Gretel, was kind of the opposite and never questioned or wonder about anything or anyone. Unlike Bruno who was trying to answer many questions, like why did they had to move out, or why they aren’t any kids near to play; but no adult wanted to answer this questions and everyone shut him up.

6. Who first called the new home ‘Out-With’ and why did they do that?

The first person to called their new home “Out-With” was Gretel, and later on Father. They call the house this because the house was desolated and in the other side of the fence there was a concentration camp.

7. How could the house serve as a symbol for Bruno’s family?

Bruno’s house may serve as a symbol, because both of them come with suggestions, complains and reports. For example, Bruno’s parents have many rules for their children, like Father office is out of limit for Gretel and Bruno so they can never enter without permission, and Mother doesn’t allow them to interrupt her while she’s talking. Just like the new house, where he isn’t allowed to explore around.

8. Why is it important to not pass judgments based on appearances?

In my opinion it is important to not pass judgments based on appearances. As the saying says, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, which means don’t create false prejudice about the physical appearance of something or someone if you don’t know the content or what’s inside a person. An example from the book may be, when Mother tells Bruno about the guy that used to talk with his cat; but it turns out that this guy was in war and had suffered terrible injuries and as a consequence was left with many mental problems.

9. Why is there no greenery in the distance after the fence? How could this be symbolic?

From Bruno’s window you don’t have a pretty view, instead there is no greenery in the distance after the fence. This could be a representation of how times where during war, that no one had time to take care of the environment, and whether or not was pretty and green. Also the fact that there was no greenery, could’ve been placed on purpose by the Nazis, since after the fence was a concentration camp, which is a place where Jews where send to be tortured and exterminated, so it was destined to be all colorful and green. Finally could mean that outside the house there was no live, so everything is dead, again relating to the time period of War and the Holocaust.

10. In chapter four, Bruno states his age. How else do you know Bruno is young?

In chapter 4, Bruno says his 9 years old. But before that, you could’ve guessed his age or at least know that he is a kid by the way that he talks, and because of having several kid characteristics like being very curios and adventurous. Also in several fight with Gretel, she’s always saying how because she’s older she’s wiser and knows more than him. Once Gretel mentioned how she was 12 and he is three years younger than her, so doing the math you could’ve also guess he was nine. Even though Gretel’s friends back from Berlin always bothering him with his age, since he seems younger because of the fact that he is smaller than the rest of his friend.

11. What is the tone of chapter four? What occurs in the chapter to set the tone?

In chapter 4, Bruno and Gretel shared their ideas about their new house and how neither of them enjoys the new place, since there are no kids to play around with. They also talk about the huge fence with wire around it that can be seen from Bruno’s window. The tone of the chapter is intense, confused and in some parts curious. Throughout the chapter, Bruno and Gretel seem confused because they don’t know many things about the new place, like the real reason why they move, or why they aren’t any children around or why the fence is there and what’s on the other side; all this questions make the main characters curious. And intense because Bruno and Gretel are shocked by what they are seeing and of how dramatically there scenery changes, like from having a house in the city to having a home in the countryside.