Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay free essay sample

These points show that ignorance is often blissful, but it can also be incredibly dangerous. Ignorance can be bliss, which is shown by Bruno when he talks to Shmuel about the camp, Auschwitz (which Bruno calls Out-With). Bruno imagines the camp as a nice, friendly farm in which the residents spend the day playing with their friends. This is evidenced when Bruno comments, â€Å"It’s so unfair. I don’t see why I have to be stuck over here where there’s no one to talk to and no one to play with and you get to have dozens of friends and are probably playing for hours every day. I’ll have to speak to father about it. † (page 110-11). If Bruno knew the truth at this point, he’d probably be wary of Shmuel, and avoid talking to him. That would mean he’d never make friends, and he’d be miserable for his entire stay at the house. We will write a custom essay sample on Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This demonstrates that sometimes not knowing is for the best, as you could hear information that would spoil your enjoyment of the experience. Ignorance most certainly can be blissful. Ignorance is bliss, but the realisation that you have been ignorant is certainly not. When you discover that you have perceived everything in the wrong light, everything you thought was correct will fall away and reveal the truth. There are many examples of this in Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. When Gretel, Herr Lizst and his father start implying that Jews are evil and are not their friends, Bruno begins to question his friendship with Shmuel. There is a point where he realises how different Shmuel is. When Shmuel is in trouble, he pleads that Bruno gave him food, and he didn’t steal it. ‘†Answer me! † shouted Lieutenant Kotler, â€Å"Did you steal something from that fridge? â€Å"No sir. He gave it to me,† said Shmuel †¦ â€Å"He’s my friend. † (page 171). Lieutenant Kotler is not inclined to believe Shmuel. He asks Bruno if he is friends with him, and Bruno realises how dangerous their friendship really is. Combined with his fear of the lieutenant, this causes him to say, â€Å"I’ve never spoken to him†¦ I’ve never seen him before in my life. † Lieutenant Kotler then beats Shmuel for stealing. This shows that when we learn things we previously didn’t know, it can have very bad consequences on us or our friends. Ignorance can be terribly dangerous if we aren’t aware of the bigger picture. This is shown in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by Bruno, who unwittingly walks into a Nazi death camp. If he had been told the raw truth about what happened in the camps, it would have been bad for his friendship with Shmuel, but in the long run it would have saved his life. On page 198, when they are discussing the idea of Bruno visiting Shmuel’s side of the fence, Bruno says, â€Å"It would be a great adventure. Our final adventure. I could do some exploring at last. † By ‘final adventure’, Bruno means the last adventure before he moves back to Berlin. He is not to know that it will be their last adventure ever. Apart from foreshadowing the tragic climax of this story, Bruno’s innocent statement shows how blissfully unaware he is of the danger. Although Shmuel is partly aware of the horror of the camps, he still doesn’t know what is really happening to all the inhabitants, and he invites Bruno over to search for his father. Well? † said Shmuel. â€Å"Why don’t you [come over here] then? † (page 197). The two boys’ ignorance leads them to wander around the camp. They are rounded up with many other prisoners and sent into a gas chamber, where they are killed. This is an example of the way ignorance can be fatal. In summary, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas shows that ignorance is bliss, but learning things you previously were ignorant of is not. Finally, ig norance is danger, and can be fatal.