This section employed Maslow’s theories of physiological needs, safety needs, and love needs to observe Bruno and Shmuel’s motives. In the novel The
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Bruno and Shmuel have different motives in establishing a friendship. Bruno’s motives are the needs to communicate with peers
and Shmuel as his only friend. Shmuel’s motives are getting physical and mental supports and the needs to love and be loved by other person.
4.1.2.1 Bruno’s Motives
Bruno’s first motive is Shmuel as his only friend. In the novel, Bruno is described as a boy who comes from a rich family. As a result, he has no problems
in fulfilling his most basic needs, namely physiological needs and safety needs. However, Bruno does not feel happy with such prosperous life. He feels lonely
after moving to the new home because he has no friends. When Bruno lives in Berlin, he has ‘three best friends for life’, namely Karl, Daniel, and Martin Boyne
7. Bruno plays and talks with them everyday. They talk about their fathers’ jobs and arrange some activities to do during summer holidays, although the plans are
cancelled due to Bruno’s departure to the new home in Out-With Boyne 9. After moving to the new home, Bruno feels lonely. He has no friends to play with since
all people around him are only his parents, sister, the servants, and the soldiers, who tend to ignore him because they have their own businesses Boyne 98-99.
That is why when Bruno finally meets Shmuel, he shows great care and understanding. Because Bruno is a kind and care person, he regularly visits Shmuel,
sitting and talking about many things. When they argue about something, Bruno decides to avoid conflict with him because Shmuel is the only friend he has at Out-
With Boyne 140. Bruno even smuggles food from his house to give to Shmuel Boyne 134-138. Bruno also offers help to search for Shmuel’s father when he is
missing on work duty and Shmuel cannot find him Boyne 199. All of the actions show that Bruno will do anything to be a friend of Shmuel. That is because Shmuel
is the only friend he has and he does not want to lose him. The second motive is to be able to communicate with peers. Bruno feels
very happy when he first meets Shmuel because he is finally able to talk to someone of his age. The introduction and conversations that follow, along with the
fact that they share some similarities such as having the same birthday Boyne 109 makes them get excited about each other. Bruno’s kindness and politeness make
Shmuel comfortable. As a result, their conversations go well. When having conversations, they talk about anything, not just common subjects but also personal
opinions and details about themselves. As their friendship getting closer, the need to communicate also gets bigger. The evidence of this case is that Bruno will miss
their conversations and cannot focus on what he is doing when he is unable to meet Shmuel Boyne 160.
Bruno’s motives refer to his needs to seek love and acceptance from others, and to belong to groups, such as friends or community. It can be seen from the
theory of motivation stated by Maslow that his motives belong to the third level of hierarchy of motivation which is love needs. In the novel, Bruno is ignored by the
people around him, including his parents. They are busy with their jobs, such as Father, who always works in a closed office called ‘Out of Bounds At All Times
And No Exceptions’ which is forbidden for Bruno to enter Boyne 44. Bruno also
gets little attentions from Mother, who hates the new home and routinely goes to a nearby city ‘for a change of air’ Boyne 70. That is why he searches for a person
who is willing to build a relationship with him. The fact that he only has one friend drives him to do anything he can do to build a friendship with Shmuel.
4.1.2.2 Shmuel’s Motives
