Blog Entry #4

In the book The Boy Who Dared, I have been able to make a couple of connections between the protagonist Helmuth, and Bruno from The Boy in The Striped Pajamas. To get what is easy out of the way, Bruno and Helmuth are both German. Neither of them are Jewish, Helmuth is a Mormon, and Bruno’s religion was undefined. From what I can tell they are both characters that wish to make their families proud of them. Bruno and Helmuth both love their families. When Helmuth was young, like Bruno he wanted to grow up to fight as a soldier for Adolf Hitler. As far as the conflicts that they had in their stories, they’re not very relatable. As Bruno’s problems consisted of leaving his home, having to leave his friends behind in Berlin, and at the end of the book having to leave Shmuel behind which never happened because of his unexpected death. Bruno and Helmuth’s families both split apart, Bruno’s mother wished to return home. While Helmuth’s mother never got married to his father. Also Helmuth has two half-brothers, because his mother divorced her husband. Bruno and Helmuth both wish to fight as a soldier because they want to make their families proud of them. Helmuth also wants to fight because he wants to make Germany a nice place like it was before the Great War While Bruno might not have as good intentions as Helmuth because he doesn't understand the war, and poverty like Helmuth does. Bruno and Helmuth are both very into the idea of being a soldier though, and while they might have different reasons for wanting to do that, it says something about both of them. I think that both Bruno and Helmuth are both tricked almost into wanting to fight for Hitler because neither of them thinks that being Jewish is wrong. They don't get why everyone else around them has such a negative outlook towards the Jewish people. No questions linger about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for me, seeing as the ending didn't leave anything for you to figure out on your own. In The Boy Who Dared I wonder, How does Helmuth get into a prison that is so cruel? Does he fight for Hitler? If he does, is it because he is convinced that being Jewish is wrong?

Blog entry #3, The Boy Who Dared

The story, The Boy Who Dared, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti starts off describing a prison room where Helmuth age seventeen lies on a bed watching the sun come into his cell. He is clearly described as being scared as it is Tuesday which is the day that the executioner works on. This book is one that seems to go back and forth between flashbacks that Helmuth is having, where he is currently in what seems to be a jail cell. Helmuth lived in Germany with his mother Mutti, he had a half brother Hans, and Gerhard. Helmuth spent time with his grandparents when his mother was at work, but I do not believe they will have a big part in this story.
So far in the first fifteen pages that I have read a couple important things have been revealed. One is that for the majority of my first night of reading, Helmuth has been describing when he was in school on January 30, 1933. He waits in  the auditorium with the rest of his classmates and teachers for a broadcasting on the radio. This will tell him something important, and he is sure it is about Adolf Hitler. Soon enough he hears the speakers saying that Hitler has been chosen as the chancellor of the Reich. Helmuth isn't quite sure how he should feel because he isn't very old yet, he hears lots of different opinions on the matter swirling around the room. In his school there are boys who belong to the Hitler Youth group so they follow his beliefs. Helmuth understands that they do not like Jews, however he doesn't understand why being Jewish is bad. I predict that this book will continue to flashback so that it shows how he got to his current position in prison. However, I am not sure what will become of him, because I do not believe that he is Jewish because he showed signs of liking Hitler and wanting to fight for him when he grew up. I am not sure what to think seeing as I have not read very far yet.

Blog entry #2

In the last couple of chapters that I have since my last post only one stunning revelation has been exposed. After Bruno looked out the window and saw what he saw, he didn't take it as a big deal, and instead casually mentioned it to his sister. After he told her, Bruno brought his older sister Gretel into his room and told her to look out the window. Even his sister wasn't able to fully comprehend what was going on behind the fence that is described as, "...a huge wire fence that ran along the length of the house and turned in at the top...the fence was very high, higher even than the house they were standing in...at the top of the fence enormous bales of barbed wire were tangled in spirals."(p. 31-32). Already you are able to tell that the tide has changed, and you are able to infer that whatever is beyond the fence is something much like a prison. At the end of my reading Bruno and Gretel come to the conclusion that whatever is beyond that fence is something that they didn't want to be near. However, Bruno still doesn't quite understand that it is a concentration camp, I can tell because he looked at all of the prisoners and noticed they were all wearing striped pajamas and said to himself, "How extraordinary."(p. 38). I have inferred that Bruno will approach whatever is behind his house behind the mysterious fence, because he doesn't understand the dangerousness of what is going on, and is clearly fascinated about the people behind his new home. I do wonder if Bruno will try to make contact with the people he has seen, and if so what will be the outcome of it all. Will he be in true danger? Will he get in serious trouble? I am not sure what will happen, but I do believe that Bruno will try to go near the fence. I believe this because firstly, he is a nine year old boy who has his curiosities, secondly he is described as adventurous almost earlier on in the book. I think that these characteristics will leave him wanting to figure out just what is going behind his new house.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas entry 1

Bruno is a nine year old boy from Berlin. He lives with his mother, father, his sister Gretel, lots of servants and a cook. One day when he comes home from school he finds one of his family's maids Maria, taking everything out of his wardrobe and putting it into suitcases. When he asks his mom why she is moving all of his clothes she tells him that they are moving out of their house for a little while. When he is told this he is very unhappy and asks why they have to move and his mother tells him because of his father's job. Bruno's father is a Nazi soldier and I am able to infer that he is of high ranking, "...leading the way towards the large dining room where the Fury had been to dinner the week before."(p. 2). This quote is showing that the Fury(meaning Hitler) had been to dinner at Bruno's house the week before. If Hitler had eaten dinner at their house then his father must have been a highly ranked officer. Bruno comes from a very wealthy family, he lives in a big house, has lots of maids, and enjoys living in Berlin amongst his friends. When Bruno and his family arrive at his new house he is very disappointed, it is small and isolated. Being a nine year old he didn't understand the situation so he told his mother the thought they should just leave and she tells him no. He is sad that they had to move and is unhappy about the new house they are living in which is when we learn about his friendship with one of the maids Maria. Bruno likes Maria and is one of his favorite maids, he feels like he can talk to her about anything. The second chapter ends with Bruno looking out the window of his bedroom and seeing something that made him feel cold and unsafe. I infer that what he sees is a concentration camp, I think this because his father is a Nazi officer. So far in this book the only problem is Bruno being disappointed with having to leave.