Common Core State Standards for english language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical

subjects

Student Sample: Grade 9, Argument

This argument was written in response to a classroom assignment. The students were asked to compare
a book they read on their own to a movie about the same story and to prove which was better. Students
had six weeks to read and one and a half weeks to write, both in and out of class.

The True Meaning of Friendship

John Boyne’s story, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, tells the tale of an incredible friendship between
two eight-year old boys during the Holocaust. One of the boys is Bruno, the son of an important German
commander who is put in charge of Auschwitz Camp, and the other is Shmuel, a Jewish boy inside the
camp. Throughout the story their forbidden friendship grows, and the two boys unknowingly break the
incredible racial boundaries of the time. They remain best friends until Bruno goes under the fence to
help Shmuel find his father when they are both killed in the gas showers of the camp. By comparing and
contrasting supporting characters, irony, and the themes in the movie and the book, it is clear that the
movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Mark Herman, 2008) is not nearly as good as the novel of the
same title.

Characterization is very important to a story and influences how a person interprets the novel or movie,
and one important way that the book differs from the movie is how Bruno’s mother is characterized. In
the movie, she is unrealistically portrayed as an honest woman with good moral values, and is almost as
naive as Bruno is about what is going on at Auschwitz. When she discovers what her husband is doing
to people at the camp she is deeply disturbed. Mortified by her husband’s cruelty, their relationship
declines. In contrast, she is a far more sinister character in the book. Though Bruno is too young to
understand what his mother is doing, one of the reasons he dislikes Lieutenant Kotler is that, “ . . . he
was always in the living room with Mother and making jokes with her, and Mother laughed at his jokes
more than she laughed at Father’s” (162). Bruno’s mother is very unhappy in her new situation away
from Berlin, and her discontent leads her to cheat on her husband. This also leads her to unknowingly
hurt her son, for Bruno is upset that she is paying more attention to Lieutenant Kotler than she is to his
father, and the damage she causes could be magnified if she continues to disrupt their family. Further
examples of her abysmal character and unfaithfulness are revealed when Bruno’s mother finds the young
lieutenant and says, “Oh Kurt, precious, you’re still here . . . I have a little free time now if—Oh! she said,
noticing Bruno standing there. ‘Bruno! What are you doing here?’”(166). Her disloyalty further allows
the reader to see that her character is far from virtuous, contrary to the opinion of a person who viewed
the movie. Throughout the story, it also becomes apparent that Bruno’s mother is also an alcoholic,
and, “Bruno worried for her health because he’d never known anyone to need quite so many medicinal
sherries” (188). Unable to come to terms with her new circumstances and strained relationship with
her husband, Bruno’s mother tries to drink away her problems, further conveying that she is a weak
character. Bruno’s extreme innocence about his mother and situation at Auschwitz are magnified by the
use of irony in both the movie and the book.

In some ways the book and the movie have similar aspects, and one of these aspects is how irony is
used to emphasize Bruno’s innocence and to greatly emphasize the tragic mood of the story. In the final
climactic scene of the movie—just after Bruno has gone under the fence to help Shmuel find his father—
the two boys are led to the gas showers to be killed. Unaware of what is about to happen to them, Bruno
tells Shmuel that his father must have ordered this so it must be for a good reason, and that they are going
into the air-tight rooms to stay out of the rain and avoid getting sick. This statement is incredibly ironic
because, unbeknownst to Bruno, his father has unknowingly commenced his own son’s death sentence. In
addition to this, the soldiers have no intention of keeping their prisoners healthy. It never occurs to Bruno
that anyone would want to destroy another human being or treat them badly, and his innocence makes
his premature death all the more tragic. Although the movie may be incredibly ironic in a few specific
instances, the book contains a plethora of ironic events that also accentuate Bruno’s childishness and
naivety. A profound example of this is exhibited when Bruno thinks to himself that, “ . . . he did like stripes
and he felt increasingly fed up that he had to wear trousers and shirts and ties and shoes that were too
tight for him when Shmuel and his friends got to wear striped pajamas all day long” (155). Bruno has no
clue that the people in the “striped pajamas” are being cruelly treated and murdered, and is jealous of
what he thinks is freedom. Bruno once again reveals his innocence when he asks Pavel, the Jewish man
from the camp who cleans him up after a fall, “If you’re a doctor, then why are you waiting on tables?
appendix c |

Why aren’t you working at a hospital somewhere?” (83). It is a mystery to Bruno that a doctor would be
reduced to such a state for no transparent reason, and his beliefs should be what all adults think. Though
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Common Core State Standards for english language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects

what he says is naive, it points out the barbarity of the German attitude toward the Jews. If an uneducated
child could be puzzled by this, then how could learned adults allow such a thing? Through Bruno’s
comment, John Boyne conveys the corruptness of the German leaders during the Holocaust, an idea that
the movie does not relay to the watcher nearly as well. The book impels the reader to think deeper about
the horrors of the Holocaust, and all this ties into the true theme of the story.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and its movie counterpart both have different themes, but it is the book’s
theme that accurately states the author’s message. The movie ends with a race against time as Bruno’s
family searches for him in the camp, trying to find him before he is killed. They are too late, and Bruno
and Shmuel die together like so many other anonymous children during the Holocaust. The theme of the
movie is how so many children died at the ruthless hands of their captors; but the book’s theme has a
deeper meaning. As Bruno and Shmuel die together in the chamber, “ . . . the room went very dark, and
in the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing
in the world would have persuaded him to let it go” (242). Bruno loves Schmuel, and he is willing to stay
with him no matter what the consequences, even if it means dying with him in the camp that his father
controls. They have conquered all boundaries, and this makes the two boys more than just two more
individuals who died in Auschwitz. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not the story of two children who
died in a concentration camp; this story is about an incredible friendship that triumphed over racism
and lasted until the very end. It is the story of what should have been between Jews and Germans, a
friendship between two groups of people in one nation who used their strengths to help each other.

Based on the analysis of supporting characters, irony, and themes of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped
Pajamas and the movie, it can be concluded that the book is far superior to the movie. Though Bruno’s
mother is a dishonest woman in the book, her bad character is more realistic for the time when compared
to the mother in the movie who is horrified by Auschwitz. John Boyne uses many examples of irony in the
book to emphasize Bruno’s innocence and to magnify the tragedy of his death. Unlike the movie the irony
in the book leads the reader to ponder on the barbarity of the German leaders during the Holocaust. The
book’s theme of long lasting friendship gives purpose to the story, while the movie’s theme of the cruelty
of concentration camps does not lead the viewer to delve deeper into the story. It is necessary for the
person to read this book in order to understand the true message of friendship and cooperation in the
story, a message that a person who had only seen the movie could not even begin to grasp.

Annotation

The writer of this piece

• introduces a precise claim and distinguishes the claim from (implied) alternate or opposing
claims.
o . . . it is clear that the movie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Mark Herman, 2008) is not
nearly as good as the novel of the same title.
• develops the claim and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out
the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s need for
information about the book.
o Reason: In the movie, she [the mother] is unrealistically portrayed as an honest woman with
good moral values . . . she is a far more sinister character in the book . . .
o Evidence: . . . one of the reasons he [Bruno] dislikes Lieutenant Kotler is that, “ . . . he was
always in the living room with Mother and making jokes with her, and Mother laughed at his
jokes more than she laughed at Father’s” (162) . . . Bruno’s mother finds the young lieutenant
and says, “Oh Kurt, precious, you’re still here . . . I have a little free time now if—Oh! she said,
noticing Bruno standing there. ‘Bruno! What are you doing here?’”(166). . . . Bruno’s mother
is also an alcoholic, and, “Bruno worried for her health because he’d never known anyone to
need quite so many medicinal sherries” (188)
o Reason: . . . it is the book’s theme that accurately states the author’s message . . . the book’s
theme has a deeper meaning . . . The book’s theme of long lasting friendship gives purpose
appendix c |

to the story . . .
o Evidence: The movie ends with a race against time as Bruno’s family searches for him in
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Common Core State Standards for english language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects

the camp, trying to find him before he is killed. They are too late, as Bruno and Shmuel die
together like so many other anonymous children during the Holocaust . . . [In the book] As
Bruno and Shmuel are standing together in the chamber, “ . . . the room went very dark, and
in the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own
and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go” (242).
• uses words, phrases and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and
clarify the relationships between claim and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and
between claims and (implied) counterclaims.
o In the movie . . . In contrast . . . Though Bruno is too young . . . Further examples of her
abysmal character . . . Throughout the story, it also becomes apparent . . . In the final
climactic scene . . . because, unbeknownst to Bruno . . . A profound example of this . . .
Based on the analysis . . .
• establishes and maintains a formal style and objective tone.
o John Boyne’s story, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, tells the tale of an incredible friendship
between two eight-year old boys during the Holocaust. . . . Characterization is very important
to a story and influences how a person interprets the novel or movie, and one important way
that the book differs from the movie is how Bruno’s mother is characterized . . . In some ways
the book and the movie have similar aspects, and one of these aspects is how irony is used
to emphasize Bruno’s innocence and to greatly emphasize the tragic mood of the story . . .

• provides a concluding section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
o Based on the analysis of supporting characters, irony, and themes of John Boyne’s The Boy
in the Striped Pajamas and the movie, it can be concluded that the book is far superior to
the movie. Though Bruno’s mother is a dishonest woman in the book, her bad character
is more realistic for the time when compared to the mother in the movie who is horrified
by Auschwitz. John Boyne uses many examples of irony in the book to emphasize Bruno’s
innocence and to magnify the tragedy of his death. Unlike the movie the irony in the book
leads the reader to ponder on the barbarity of the German leaders during the Holocaust. The
book’s theme of long lasting friendship gives purpose to the story, while the movie’s theme
of the cruelty of concentration camps does not lead the viewer to delve deeper into the story.
It is necessary for the person to read this book in order to understand the true message of
friendship and cooperation in the story, a message that a person who had only seen the movie
could not even begin to grasp.
• demonstrates exemplary command of the conventions of standard written English.

appendix c |
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