Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

Discrimination is “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things”according to Google’s top search. Some people may agree that it is okay to be different, while others think the very opposite. In both historical fiction novels novels, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, and The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, experiences this issue. The Boy in The Striped Pajamas is a novel that follows a catholic child during the holocaust time period in Out-with, Germany. In The Devil’s Arithmetic the author mainly focuses on a young girl and her jewish family when they are taken away by soldiers and sent to a concentration camp. For those that are unaware, the Holocaust was a terrifying, inhuman time when Jewish …show more content…
The first piece of evidence that may apply to the theme is shown on page 46, “Do you mean to say that your best friend is not a jew?” “As a matter of fact she’s catholic, as if it matters.” “My father would not even let me talk to a goy (catholic)!” (Yolen, 1988). This evidence tells readers that even though Hannah’s friend is a different religion, she does not have a label in Hannah’s eyes. Furthermore, the way the author presented the text shows readers the importance of discrimination and why many people believe it should be stopped. Readers know this because Yolen included, “Now-sir millions of jews will die in camps like this” (1988,156). This connects with the theme because it is clearly not humane to kills others for what they believe in, and jews were seen as rags who died in this tragic event. Another example of this theme is delivered on page 75, when Hannah is being captured, “Of, course, Jew, then my men will move among you and take your papers and jewelry for safekeeping….The next one who speaks I will shoot.” This shows that not only did the soldiers kill jews for their belief, but also stole their values in the meantime, which is mightily …show more content…
Boyne developed this theme through the use of flashback and asking questions. One way he does this was on page 11 of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas when Bruno has flashbacks of his old house in Berlin and his old friends there (Boyne, 2005). This author does this to provide the readers background knowledge, that built up the character. Not only does John Boyne incorporate flashbacks in his writing, but he also includes, questions. Most readers will noticed that while reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Bruno repeatedly asked questions. For example on page 52, “He turned around to ask one final question… Bruno thought about his question, wanting to phrase it exactly right this time, just incase it came out being rude.” (Boyne, 2005) The author does this to show that Bruno is very curious. On the other hand Jane Yolen utilizes description and figurative language. One way Yolen shows description was on page 84 where she also includes figurative language, “The boxcars traveled for four days and nights; the only difference that Hannah could tell was the heat. Under the midday sun, it was like standing in an oven, an oven that smelled of human sweat and urine and feces.” This covers both description and figurative language because the author described the boxcars to notify readers the setting. Plus the figurative language gives a deeper understanding to let

Show More

Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

Related Documents: Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas