Chapter 14 - TBITSP

1. What information do we get that makes the reader start to feel that he is becoming less innocent and more ignorant? Shmuel tells Bruno about the striped pyjamas and why there where them. This causes Bruno to start complaining about the fact that he doesn't get to wear striped pyjamas and has to wear shirts, shorts and ties. This adds to innocence of Bruno and that he wants to wear pyjamas all day rather than boring clothes. This also relates to Bruno's lack of understanding of discipline outside his house and his lack of understanding of the camps.

2. What is interesting about the weather and how does it relate to the overall emotion of this stage in the book? The is interesting and a coincidence that it begins to rain and become all miserable during a very emotion stage during the book because at the time Pavel becomes very weak and Shmuel is being beaten within the camp.

3. What does Bruno accidentally say to Gretel? "I hate the rain too, I should be with Shmuel by now. He'll think I've forgotten him" is accidentally said to Gretel and is very crucial because he is not meant to be talking to the jews.

4. Is Bruno able to consider Gretel's feelings? How do you know? Bruno is able to consider Gretel's feelings to an exempt because he thinks she to must be bored at Auschwitz as all she has to do is rearrange her dolls. He thinks that she would rather be playing with her friends, as he would, back in Berlin. He feels he must talk to Gretel because he suspects they both are bored.

5. What is it that motivates Bruno not to tell Gretel the truth? How does this portray Bruno as being selfish? Bruno is motivated to not tell the truth to Gretel because he thinks that Shmuel will be taken from him and Gretel would make him her friend. This shows that Bruno has an ignorant and selfish attitude towards Gretel and wants Shmuel all to himself.

6. What is it that Bruno realises when he starts recounting what Shmuel tells him? Why do you think that this is when he finally starts to realise what Shmuel is experiencing? Bruno begins to put the pieces together and recounts the stories in which Shmuel tells him and releases how sad Shmuel's story is about his grandfather and that he can't be found within the camp. He begins to lose his innocence and understand Shmuel's point of view rather than trying to relate his view with his own. He also becomes more sensitive to others feelings rather than his own and begins to realises to listen to others.

7. What is ironic and hypocritical about what Gretel tells Bruno regarding imaginary friends? It is ironic because Gretel thinks that it is childish to have an imaginary friend when she has created her own within her dolls. It is also hypocritical because she thinks it is childish when she does it, and she is only thirteen.