Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Chapters 11-15

Where are we in the story:

Bruno slipped a little about his new friend Shmuel. He told his sister about an "imaginary friend". He is starting to understand a little more about what is on the other side of the fence but has not quite put all of the pieces together. Shmuel was there at his house doing some odd job before a big party for his father. They saw each other and Lut. Kotzler was about to find out about their secret friendship. Bruno has a feeling that he really needs to keep their friendship a secret. He is not sure why but does not trust those in authority.

Comment have been made about how naive Bruno is. I think it is important to remember that he is only nine years old. I am not positive I would fully understand all that is going on around me at that age. Being nine years old, you are still too young to understand social standings. You are still too young to understand that being of a different nationality, or race is something offensive at that time. There is still a sense of humanity there. It has never been explained to him what is truly happening behind that fence. Looking back at history, we see so clearly now. But good people do not automatically think the worst. That is something that I am really getting to understand reading this story.

Thoughts??.......

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that the times we live in today are very different from the World War II era. I feel that children overall are exposed to things earlier these days and that there is a pull to educate and include children in a complete way. Whereas the emphasis in the past may have been to educate a child academically and children were to be seen and not heard, I think in current times there is a shift to educate the whole child;academically, physically, emotionally, morally, etc. I believe more children today are made aware of what is going on around them, either by parents and educators, or media and internet. I agree that a 9 year old may not pick up on or understand what exactly is going on around him. In Bruno's case, it isn't that he doesn't question things within himself, it is a case of having fear in questioning things out loud. He also possesses that pure innocence a child has when they are just going with what feels right to them. I am appreciating the message of acceptance and friendship in this story.

Rachel said...

I agree with the fact that it was great to read how accepting Bruno was of Schmuel even after he was told that the people in the other side of the fence were the enemy. Bruo saw his friend as a boy with the same interests, fears, curiosity as he.