Boy In Striped Pyjamas Summary

Chapter 1
In Berlin, Germany, Bruno arrives home from school to find the maid, Maria, in his room packing his belongings.
His mother tells him that the family has to move away for an indefinite period of time. The idea angers and
saddens Bruno because it means leaving behind his three best friends: Daniel, Karl, and Martin. His mother is
equally upset when she sees the butler, Lars, in her room packing her belongings. Bruno's mom tells Bruno that
his father's work is very important and that the family must support him and his duty. Bruno remembers when
the Fury (Führer) and the blond woman, Eva, came to dinner a week earlier and how the Fury had plans for
Bruno's father. The chapter ends with Bruno overhearing a heated argument between his mother and father in
his father's office, which is always off limits. The father ends the argument by shouting much louder than
Bruno's mother. The door to the office shuts, and Bruno decides to go upstairs to help Maria pack his things.

Chapter 2
The family moves to the new house at Out-With (Auschwitz), and Bruno hates it. He constantly contrasts it with
his home in Berlin. He feels that the house is vacant, lonely, and friendless. He notices that no one laughs in
the new house. He observes additional servants, but they are skinny, quiet, and sad. The house is secluded,
and there are no children to play with, so Bruno tries to convince his mother to talk with his father about moving
back to Berlin. He feels he could handle one night at this house as long as the family moved back to Berlin the
following day. He looks around the house for some sort of secret place to explore but finds nothing interesting.
He later asks Maria, the maid, if she likes the house, but she simply says it is not her place to make judgments.
Bruno comments that there won't be anyone to play with except his sister, Gretel, whom he refers to as a
"Hopeless Case." Bored and unhappy, Bruno goes to his small bedroom and looks out the dormer window
(projected from the roof), seeing something that makes "him feel very cold and unsafe."

Chapter 3
Bruno wishes that 12-year-old Gretel, whom he calls the "Hopeless Case," had stayed in Berlin. She is always
bossing him around, teasing him with her friends over his small physical size and staying in the bathroom too
long. He enters Gretel's room without knocking and sees her arranging her dolls. He wonders why she has
brought all of them with her. She says that Father has said the family will be in the new home for "the
foreseeable future," which she tells Bruno means a few weeks. This news pleases Bruno since he wants to
return to Berlin. She also says the name of the house is Out-With. Each of them shares theories regarding this
name. They come to agree that the last person in Father's position did not do a very good job, so it was out
with the last person and in with the new. Later, Bruno and Gretel share how they miss their friends. Bruno
comments that "the other children" do not appear to be friendly. This alarms Gretel, who immediately wants to
know what children Bruno refers to. He takes Gretel to his room to look out the window, but Gretel is at first
hesitant and uneasy. Then she looks out the window and realises what Bruno means.

Chapter 4
Gretel carefully observes the scene from Bruno's bedroom window and notices a garden, a path, and a bench,
places she imagines people having a pleasant time. Then she realises that the bench is facing the house. This
placement is understandable because of the opposing ugly view of an enormously tall and long wire fence
enclosing a dreary compound that goes on as far as she can see. She sees only boys and men, no girls,
mothers, or grandmothers. The men, some of whom appear injured, are being forced by soldiers to push
wheelbarrows or dig with shovels. The boys are crying as a soldier shouts at them. Initially, she theorises that
her family has moved to "the countryside," where farmers grow crops to send to cities such as Berlin. Bruno
disagrees because the soil looks bad and there is no sign of livestock. Gretel agrees, and the two become
equally baffled as to the purpose of the depressing area. Bruno sits on the bed, watching Gretel look out the
window and wishing his sister would comfort him and tell him what is going on. Then he stands beside her at
the window and sees many people and numerous huts in the enclosed area. In the distance Gretel notices two
large smokestacks. She comments on how the huts look modern and that her father hates modern. Seeing
enough, she returns to her bedroom across the hall and looks out at the dark forest from her window. Bruno
remains at his window and comments to himself that it is amazing that all of the people in the fenced-in area
are wearing striped pyjamas.

Chapter 5
The chapter begins with a flashback to moving day in Berlin. Bruno's mother comments on how she wishes the
Fury had never come to dinner, then she immediately cringes when she realises that Maria and Bruno have
overheard her. The action resumes about a week after Bruno and Gretel look out of Bruno's bedroom window.
Bruno sees his father for the first time since moving to the new house. His father is talking with a group of other
officers outside his office, which is always "Out Of Bounds At All Times And No Exceptions." Bruno enters his
father's office after knocking. His father greets him but is not affectionate; according to Bruno, he does not hug
like Grandmother and Grandfather. Bruno tells his father how much he dislikes the new house and how he
wants to return home. His father at first understands Bruno's unhappiness, but after Bruno's continued
complaints, he sends Bruno to his room. However, before leaving, Bruno asks about the identity of the people
in the fenced area. His father replies that they are not people in any normal sense of the word and then
instructs Bruno to simply deal with life at Out-With and not complain. Before Bruno leaves, his father looks at
him disapprovingly until Bruno raises his hand, puts his feet together and says, "Heil Hitler," which Bruno
assumes is some phrase meaning "Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon."

Chapter 6
Bruno lies in bed thinking about how much he misses the house in Berlin. Maria enters, and Bruno encourages
her to engage in conversation. Bruno wants to know whether Maria hates the house as much as he does, but
Maria shares how grateful she is to Bruno's father for giving her a job and a home. She has been with the
family for about six years. She tells Bruno to respect his father, who is doing a job that requires traits out of
character for him. However, she catches herself, feeling she has said too much. Gretel interrupts the
conversation with her loud entrance into Bruno's room. Gretel is surprised that Bruno is talking to Maria, and
she orders Maria to run a bath. Bruno defends Maria. However, Gretel does not really view Maria as a person
with feelings. Maria advises Bruno again to be respectful and not cause any problems. Bruno leaves his room
and goes outside to play, where he sees the compound. Though he thinks of running away, he realises it would
be more problematic than staying.

Chapter 7
Several weeks after moving to Out-With, Bruno is extremely bored and feels he will go mad. This state of mind
reminds him of Herr Franz Roller, a man about his father's age who fought in World War I. He suffered brain
damage, causing him to talk to himself in public. Bruno decides to create a rope swing with a tire; with
permission from Lieutenant Kotler, who is busy flirting with Gretel, Bruno gathers the needed material with the
servant Pavel, who has been ordered to help. While playing on the finished swing, Bruno falls and injures
himself. Pavel witnesses the injury from the kitchen window and rushes to Bruno, bringing him inside and
tending to his wound. It surprises Bruno that a servant is so skilled with first aid. Pavel shares that he is a
doctor and once had a practice before he came to Out-With, a career change that thoroughly confuses Bruno.
When Bruno's mother enters the kitchen, she sends him to his room, but he overhears her telling Pavel to say
that she tended to Bruno if the commandant asks.

Chapter 8
Bruno reflects on his grandmother Nathalie, a former professional singer, and grandfather Matthias, a
restaurant owner—the two people he misses most in Berlin. He recalls the last Christmas before the family left
Berlin, when Grandmother staged a self-written play with him and Gretel in the cast, a tradition of hers that
Bruno loves. However, the play that year ended badly when Grandmother expressed openly her disgust with
her son's (Ralf/Bruno's father) involvement in the German military and the "terrible, terrible things" he did. She
criticised Matthias for being interested only in Ralf's military handsomeness when he started wearing his
uniform weeks before "the Fury and the beautiful blonde woman" came to the house for dinner. Though
Grandfather was proud of Ralf, Grandmother was so enraged at his support of Hitler that she "storm[ed] out" of
the house. Bruno decides to write to his grandparents to tell them about the house and the area with the people
in pyjamas.

Chapter 9
Several weeks pass. Pavel rarely speaks to Bruno, but Bruno catches Pavel looking at the scar on his knee.
Bruno tolerates Gretel, who can be obnoxious when she is upset. Lieutenant Kotler hangs around the house
frequently, often flirting with both Mother and Gretel. Tutoring begins with Herr Liszt, a friendly though
somewhat threatening older gentleman. Herr Liszt teaches Bruno and Gretel about "the Fatherland" and "the
great wrongs that have been done to" the country. Bruno becomes extremely interested in exploring his
environment and wonders why some people wear striped pyjamas while others do not. He has observed that
his father and others have entered the compound, but none of the people in striped pyjamas—except a chosen
few—come to the house. Herr Liszt's history lessons about great explorers encourage Bruno to take his own
explorations more seriously. Though he is forbidden to go near the compound, he decides to investigate the
fence, first stopping at the bench that he has observed from his window. The plaque on the bench is a
dedication to the opening of the Out-With camp.

Times when Bruno felt emotions

-Upset (chapter 1 pg 1)
Maria pulled his belongings out of the cupboard and packed it into wooden crates. Even the things he had
hidden that belonged to him and were nobody else's business.
(chapter 2 pg15)
Bruno's three best friends,his house and his perfect content were lost on the same day. After realising that he
would stay in his new house for the "foreseeable future"

-Sad (Chapter 2 pg 19)

While talking to Maria, Bruno realised that there is no one to play with other than Gretel. But she is a Hopeless
Case. He felt like crying but stopped himself.
-Happy (chapter 4 pg 32)
When Bruno showed Gretel the people who were out there, he saw it first and he could see it whenever he
liked and therefore it belonged to him. Making him the king and Gretel his subject
-Irritated (chapter 6 pg 59)
Bruno told Maria that he thought moving here was a mistake. When Bruno makes mistakes he gets punished
but not the adults. He gets irritated as it was unfair that rules applied to children and not adults.

Times when Gretel felt different emotions

- Disgust (chapter 4 pg 37)
After looking at the children, Gretel saw that they looked filthy, like they had not taken a bath at all.

Times when Mother felt different emotions

-Frustration (chapter 1 pg 2)
Trying to explain why they had to move to Bruno after he kept asking the question "why?" Infuriated Mother

Times when Father felt different emotions

-Pride (chapter 5 pg 46)
Father said approvingly that he was proud of Bruno for helping Mother and Gretel in the closing of the house.
-Irritated/anger (chapter 5 pg 52)
After Bruno shouted at Father, he became quiet and distant and said in a quiet voice that meant business.
Times when Grandfather felt different emotions
-Pride (chapter 8 pg 90)
Grandfather felt proud that Father had worn his new uniform

Times when Grandmother felt different emotions

-Disappointed (chapter 8 pg 90)
Grandmother shook her head at Father like he was a huge disappointment.
-Angry (chapter 8 pg 91)
Grandmother finds it outrageous that Mother finds Father beautiful in his uniform. Shouting that it was what she
found important in the world.

Character traits

Bruno
-Self-centred
-Respectful
-Polite
-Innocent
-Ignorant/naïve
-Curious

Gretel
-Rude
-Smart
-Narcissistic

Mother
-Loving
-Stern
-Compassionate

Father
-loving
-Cruel
-Strict
-Kindhearted

Grandfather
-Patriotic

Grandmother
-Apoliticism
-Dramatic