The boy in the Striped Pyjamas

 In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is to be kind and not judge others.

Bruno and Shmuel don't really understand what is going on but they are happy to find a friend. When Bruno told Shmuel that Germany was superior to Poland, he quickly changed the topic, because, "...even as he said the words, they didn't sound quite right to him and the last thing he wanted was for Shmuel to think that he was being unkind to him." This showed that Bruno was thinking about how Shmuel would feel and that he doesn't want to hurt Shmuel's feelings.

Later, Bruno betrayed Shmuel by saying to Lieutenant Kotler that he didn't know Shmuel. Afterwards Bruno felt ashamed and regretful and apologised to Shmuel, "I'm so sorry, Shmuel. I don't know why I did it. Say you'll forgive me." This showed that Bruno really cared for him and felt sorry and very bad for Shmuel and didn't want Shmuel to think that he was being unkind.

At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now a stronger and emotional bond, even though it did not last very long. Bruno even said to Shmuel, "You're my best friend Shmuel, my best friend for life." Bruno and Shmuel were actually true friends who stood by each other's side no matter what, without judgement, cruelty, and unfairness.

Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from strangers to true friends due to their genuine nice personality and kindness, even though they weren't supposed to be friends in the first place, since Shmuel is Jewish. In spite of this, Bruno didn't really care about it since he had no intention of being cruel or unkind to Shmuel. This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, that kindness, and loyalty are one of the most important key things in life. In my opinion, this was a sad story because the society at the time did not approve of their friendship and beliefs.