Boy in Striped PJ's - Chapter 1

Bruno's Voice, introduction of characters, and victims

• Describe Bruno's voice. Give examples to support.

Bruno's voice is obviously full of confusion when he talks to his mum. He is asking many questions and is very puzzled at why they do have to move out of Berlin, Bruno says, "Am i being sent away?". "No not just you, we all are. You father and I, Gretel and you. All four of us." After he is told that they are moving with no exceptions and has to say goodbye to his 'Best three friends for life', he is not happy with that at all although he is quickly told otherwise by his mother as he is to be polite and no yelling in the house. "Say goodbye to Karl and Daniel and Martin?" he continued, his voice coming dangerously close to shouting, which was not allowed indoors.'

• What characters are introduced? Describe each and give examples to support.

Bruno- the main character as the story is being set through his eyes and his childish mind.
"What are you doing?" Bruno asked in as polite a tone he could muster.'
Maria- The family maid who is introduced page 1 of the book. She is busily packing away Bruno's belongings in preparation for the move out of Berlin. She seems polite and shy.
'He was surprised to find maria, the family's maid- who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet.'
Mother- Bruno, and Gretel's mother. She seems to be very upset about the move to Berlin although she is persuading Bruno that it is a good idea I think that she is secretly comforting herself about it all.
'He looked at her without say anything for a moment and thought to himself that she couldn't have applied her make-up correctly that morning because the rims of her eyes were more red than usual, like his own after he been causing chaos and got into trouble and ended up crying.'
Gretel- Bruno's sister she is put across by Bruno as a 'Hopeless case'.
'He wasn't particularly bothered if Gretel was being sent away because she was a Hopeless Case and caused nothing but trouble for him.'
Karl, Daniel, Martin- Bruno's 'best three friends for life'.
'Say goodbye to Karl and Daniel and Martin? But they're my three best friends for life!'

• Who are presented as victims in this chapter and what are the victims of? Do you think that it is fair to consider them victims?

I think that the whole situation Bruno feels like he is the victim and because we are looking through his eyes we very much feel like he is the victim in this all. But I do not think that it is fair to call Bruno the victim in fact  if you look deeper, 'Mother' is in fact the victim as she is very uncomfortable with the whole situation judging by the 'Red rims' around her eyes that suggests she has been crying. At the end of the chapter she is also being yelled at by her husband and it seems to Bruno that she is losing the fight by a margin and is very upset about something, presumably the move.

• Irony is an important element of the story. How is it used here in the first chapter? Give examples to support your answer.

It is ironic how the mother who is the person of authority is the person who wants to go the least. It is ironic that she has been crying and Bruno hasn't and in the mean time she is telling Bruno that he must go and that it will be good but she is obviously not believing it either.
Another Ironic point is that we understand the situation a lot better than Bruno does, this is ironic as he is German and he is the main character. He is very unaware as a child.

• How is the setting presented in this chapter?