Week
6 – The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
Introduction:
This
week is the last week before the exams. I can’t believe the first
semester is already coming to a close but alas we have arrived at the
final theme: Crossover. An interesting theme, as it bridges the gap
between adult and youth literature. For this week, I’ve decided to
read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. A book with quite a lengthy
history and is mentioned at least once every school year.
First
impressions:
The
story follows a young German boy called Bruno when he moves to a new
house. As he gazes out of his bedroom window he sees a “farm”
with people wearing striped “pyjamas”. Despite his father telling
him to forget about it, he decides to go exploring. As he approaches
the fence, he finds another boy on the other side. Later in the
story, the other boy’s father goes missing. After a fight between
Bruno’s parents his mother wants to leave the farm with him. He
doesn’t want to go, so he decides to put on “striped pyjamas”
and join his new friend in the search for his missing father. Later
on, the two boys are put in a large “shower” (gas chamber) with
several men as Bruno’s parents are heart achingly trying to find
him. Bruno dies in the gas chamber.
My
initial impressions are shock and awe. I had heard good stories about
this book before but I had no idea it would be this good. This story
transcends any and all expectations I had. It has great characters, a
gripping plot and a fantastic point of view. While the book is told
in a third person narrative, it allowed the writer to tell the story
through Bruno’s eyes. The innocence of Bruno, where he doesn’t
realize who his new friend is and what group is on the other side of
the fence is something that really stuck with me. We often don’t
consider the points of view of the younger people around us, but it
is good that books like this help us remember that there is still
innocence in this world.
Class
discussion/theory:
There
were several discussions in class this week. It began with the topic
of “Graded Readers”. Graded Readers are “easy reading” books
used to teach children English as their second language. Graded
readers are typically graded, i.e. levelled, within a series
according to high frequency headword count. For example, Level 1 in a
series might be restricted to 500 headwords, Level 2 to 600
headwords, and Level 3 to 700 headwords. Not everyone agreed on why
children should or shouldn't read this. I firmly agree with the fact
that “watering down” great literature to make it more suitable
for younger audiences destroys the actual purpose of the book, but
that doesn't mean they can't enjoy it. Furthermore, If learners start with graded readers they won’t have to stop and look up lots of unknown words in the dictionary. (Budden, 2008) Changing the book will
directly impact the plot and the narrative and maybe destroys the
meaning that the author put behind the book. On the other hand, if it
makes it easier for younger readers to read, and actually gets them
to read, who are we to judge?
Later
in the discussion we arrived at the topic of Crossover itself, and
why it is so popular with adults Again, not everyone agreed. This is
also the part of the discussion I found the most interesting and took
the most away from. Adult readers can find secret meanings in
crossover literature that younger readers might miss. Adult readers
need an escape from everyday life, and these books facilitate that.
Sometimes adult readers want a relatively simple book, just to doze
off. I find that our society has undergone a massive paradigm shift
in regards to crossover literature and the social acceptance. It is
now “cool” to have read Harry Potter for instance, which, in its
purest form is youth literature.
Age
suitability/theory:
I
strongly feel that big historic events like the holocaust should be
talked about with children. We live in a world where newer
generations are becoming increasingly ignorant about history facts
and their accuracy. There are several people who would argue against
this, saying children should grow up in a world protected from all this
harsh information. I think that while children may not fully be able
to understand the holocaust, they can at least learn about it in a
simplistic way. In this aspect, I agree very much with Jerome Bruner,
an educational theorist who believed that “there’s an appropriate
version of any skill or knowledge that may be imparted at whatever
age one wishes to begin teaching – however preparatory the version
may be.”(Bruner, 1960). In line with this, I’d recommend the age
group of at least 12, to actually read the book. In the bigger
picture, education about events like the holocaust can start at the
age of 9+. I definitely understand that this book is crossover, as it
provides both young and adult audiences with a gripping story. Of
course the adult audience will definitely understand the subtleties
of the author where the children reading the same book won’t.
Interesting theories/information:
Interesting theories/information:
There aren't very many theories other than people questioning the authenticity of the Holocaust discussed in the book. For example: "Auschwitz
was a concentration camp in Poland surrounded by double
fencing…electric fences. Technically, the boys could not have sat
next to each other because Shamuel would have had to crawl under one
of the fences to get to the edge. If it would have been so easy to do
that, then everyone could have escaped. Another part that was never
mentioned was the fact that Auschwitz was heavily guarded and no
guards were ever brought up in the story. At one point in the book
the boys hold hands…so what happened to the electric fences?"
Sources:
Budden, J (2008) Using Graded Readers, retrieved on the 4th of November from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/language-assistant/teaching-tips/using-graded-readers-0
Bruner, J.S. (1960) The process of education, Harvard University Press; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 July 1960)
Bruner, J.S. (1960) The process of education, Harvard University Press; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 July 1960)
