Log #4

Author: John Boyne

Page: p1-p66

    The background of this book is the period that the military in Germany prosecuted the Jewish. At that time, there was the so-called concentration camp, and the Jewish people were captured to that place. Bruno, the one of the main character in this story, one day was told by his mom that his family needed to move to another place. Moving to another place, in other words, keeping far from his best friends, made Bruno feel upset. However, his parents didn’t view moving-out as a big deal to get Bruno to fight against or shut at them. One day, Bruno looked out from the window of his new room, and couldn’t help but shape his mouth into an O because of what he had seen.

    This is a book written from children’s perspective. As far as I read, I feel like becoming the younger me again. It’s really a special feeling. In Chapter 1, Bruno said that he didn’t want to separate from his best friends. However, his mom simply said: ”You’ll make a new friend again.” It seems that it’s not a big deal for her to leave one’s best friends. In my opinion, leaving where you used to live for a long time or studying at the different school with friends matter a lot to children. When I was in elementary school, I encountered several times of transferring from this school to another one. Every time I said farewell to my friends, I felt like I wouldn’t have the chance to see them again in my whole life. However, the perspective of a child for the world is tiny, and the emotion of him/her can be very pure. When we grow older and know more, it seems that the strong feeling has faded as the time went by.  

    In Chapter 2, they arrived in the new house, but Bruno still didn’t feel satisfied with the house. His mom just told him that they have to make the best of a bad situation. It seems to force Bruno think in the way of adults. However, that’s children’s character. There is a saying that children will never tell a lie. What a child expresses is the pure feeling coming from his/her heart. If they feel disgusting, they won’t say they are satisfying. Until now, I just want to question myself: Where is the fearless brave girl? Why do I become speechless after I grow up?

    Though I am still reading for the background of the story, the book does bring some reflection to me. When we are young, we are worriless as if we were living in the wonderland. However, we will finally grow up one day. We always expect to be an adult when we are children, but we feel like going back to the moments of the young when we are grown-ups. From a college student’s perspective, I do appreciate the courage and spirit of Bruno to keep arguing with the right things. Also, I feel pitiful for myself to be influenced by the environment and the society deeply so that it’s difficult for me to say whatever I want to express now.