humanity as he gets closer to him. Children ’s sense of humanity as displayed by
the main characters in the novel is the depiction on how children could interact with each other to get the sense of anothe
r people’s feeling. Children need to socialize with other children not only from the same neighborhood and
environment but also from the place which is completely different. It helps children to discover new things about the world and learn how people are
different from one another. Bruno listens to Shmuel’s story as a way to learn about his new friend. Bruno
finds the pleasure of learning about his new friend and his past which is hard for Shmuel to tell. The situation could be seen as below.
‘What happened to it?’ asked Bruno. ‘They took it away from me,’ said Shmuel.
‘Who?’ ‘The soldiers, of course,’ said Shmuel as if this was the most obvious
thing in the world.
‘And then one day things started to change,’ he continued. ‘I came home from school and my mother was making armbands for us from a special
cloth and drawing a star on each one. Like this,’ Using his finger he drew a design in the dusty ground beneath him.
‘And every time we left the house, she told us we had to wear one of those armbands.’
‘My father wears one too,’ said Bruno. ‘On his uniform. It’s very nice. It’s bright red with a black-and-
white design on it.’ Using his finger he drew another design in the dusty ground on his side of the fence. Boyne,
2007:126 Bruno listens to Shmuel’s story about his painful past. All the things about
Shmuel’s past are still new things for Bruno to hear. It is hard for Bruno to understand Shmuel
’s story as he never undergoes the same hardship as Shmuel
does. Bruno is still in his very first stage of learning about something new and even shocking for h
im. He learns that in Shmuel’s story, the soldiers are mean to Shmuel. They took everything away from him. Bruno also makes a new
discovery of learning as Shmuel told him about the armbands he has to wear every time he goes out.
Children could simply find enjoyment of learning from the time they spend with their friends. Sharing their worries and even adventures of themselves could
be a part of learning. The learning process which requires a lot of thinking is surely a wonderful kind of pleasure. Sharing to each other means a lot to children
as they share part of themselves to other people. Asking other people to listen and to relate with their stories is also a form of pleasure. Meanwhile, sharing stories
are not only related to happy memories but also the sad ones. When children could open to their friends about their pain, they feel the pleasure of sharing the
burden. Although it is a simple form of sharing stories, it could help them to heal themselves as they have someone to listen to them.
Shmuel continues his painful story as he has Bruno to listen to him. He shares about his painful past with his best friend as a way to release his own sadness.
‘No, but when we were told we couldn’t live in our house we had to move to a different part of Cracow, where the soldiers built a big wall and my
mother and father and my brother an
d I all had to live in one room.’
‘All of you?’ asked Bruno. ‘In one room?’
‘And not just us,’ said Shmuel. ‘There was another family there and the mother and father were always fighting with each other and one of the
sons was bigger than me and he hit me
even when i did nothing wrong.’
‘You can’t have all lived in the one room,’ said Bruno, shaking his head. ‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘All of us,’ said Shmuel, nodding his head. ‘Eleven in total.’ Boyne, 2007:128
Bruno listens attentively to Shmuel’s confession of his painful past. Bruno finds the pleasure of learning about Shmuel’s past. He is surprised to know how
Shmuel’s family lived and treated. Even, Bruno could not understand how such family live in a very small room and has to undergo such difficulty. Bruno learns
about the painful past of his best friends. Although it is hard for him to understand the situation, he learns that there are many people in this world who
have to undergo such terrible treatment and even have to suffer. Bruno does not have to feel that kind of treatment to be able to relate to it. When he listens to
Shmuel’s story, he finds the pleasure of learning the pain and sadness from his best friend.
Being able to learn new things also means that children could experience many things for the first time. Children need to get in touch with the people in
their surroundings. The people around children could give a valuable lesson to children as they get to know each other. Children are able to go deeper on their
emotions when they closely interact with people. The new feeling such as guilt and regret are the dark emotions which are rare to be introduced to children.
When children feel those kinds of emotions, they also learn how to deal with those kinds of dark emotions.
Bruno finds the pleasure of being able to feel the feeling of regret and relief. For Bruno, this is the first time he has to encounter those feeling while he
interacts with his best friends, Shmuel. The situation could be seen below.
‘Shmuel,’ he said, running towards him and sitting down, almost crying with relief and regret. ‘I’m so sorry, Shmuel. I don’t know why i did it.
Say you’ll forgive me.’ Boyne, 2007:173
The above quotation shows that Bruno feels sorry and regret for what he did to
Shmuel. Bruno learns that his actions were hurting his friend. After confessing to his friend, Bruno feels relief because he confesses that he lied and could not
protect Shmuel. Bruno is not only able to learn the pleasure of feeling regret and guilt but also manage to be honest to his friend. Bruno is able to feel the pleasure
of feeling relief after he let out his regret to his friend. Children are able to feel the pleasure in the feeling of guilt and regret. Those
kinds of emotions need a deeper encounter with other people’s feeling. Children need to feel those emotions because it teaches them so many lessons of life.
Children are able to consider other people’s feeling. When they are able to feel
the guilt and regret, it means that they are able to appreciate other people’s feeling since they feel the guilt and regret to other people. It shows how children
could learn to be mature with their minds and feelings. In conclusion, children learn to encounter dark emotions through other people’s feeling too. Children are
able to appreciate others when they interact with each other.
c. The Pleasure of Understanding
Understanding is the most important part of learning. Children need to understand about their surroundings. Understanding does not merely about a
certain kind of problem related to education matters. Understanding means a whole deal of understanding people and life around children. This is one of the
biggest concerns of adults who try to make children understand the meaning of life. Adults try to help children understand the meaning of people around them
and how they should respect them. The way children behave will reflect their understanding of life. Children
need to learn on how much they should understand every situation and how they should behave among other people. This kind of understanding is not something
children could learn only from formal education. These important understandings need to be gained as they interact with other people and make discoveries.
Children’s mistakes and failures include in the process of understanding. Children need to be sensitive about their surroundings because there are still
so much things to learn and understand about the environment and the people around them. Sometimes it takes years and one special occasion to make children
realize how much one person means to them. The process of understanding could not be underestimated as children have their own way to understand a particular
situation. The datum below shows that Bruno starts to realize how much Maria means to his family.
Bruno frowned. He wanted to mention that he was feeling a bit peckish right now, but instead he looked across at Maria and realized for the first time
that he had never fully considered her to be a person with a life and a history all of her own
. He wasn’t even sure that he had ever seen her dressed
in anything other than her maid’s uniform. But when he came to think of it, as he did now, he had to admit that there must be more to her life than
just waiting on him and his family. She must have thoughts in her head, just like him. She must have things that she missed, friends whom she
wanted to see again, just like him. And she must have cried herself to sleep every night since she got here, just like boys far less grown up and
brave than him . Boyne, 2007:60
Bruno looks closely at Maria and realizes that he never considers Maria as a
person who has a history on her own. It took him years and one particular occasion where he thinks about Maria’s feeling when she moves out with Bruno’s
family to the new house. Bruno realizes that Maria also has a side of her that she never shows in front of Bruno. Maria also has a history and opinion all of her
own. Bruno never thinks about it because he never sees her as a person who has the same feeling as anyone else before.
Children are able to relate to other people’s feeling through the same experience or event. Children have their own knowledge of understanding certain
things. When they see people having the same experience as them, children could relate to the same event
. Bruno finds the pleasure of understanding other people’s feeling through his own experience. Bruno could relate on how Maria might feel
lonely just like himself and Maria might also confuse about the new situation
because of the sudden change. Bruno is able to feel the pleasure of understanding others.
Children’s way of understanding others are also highly influenced by their way of interactions with their friends. Friends are always important for children
as they grow together and develop feelings one another. Friends are important to children as they almost have the same age. It is important for them to have peer
friends because they would start to learn from each other with almost the same level of learning and understanding. Moreover, friendship could be a perfect way
to develop sensitivity in the most natural way. Among many friends, there will be few of them who leave quite impression to
children. Having best friends help children to develop certain feeling which goes deeper as they interact with their good friends. The ability of understanding other
people’s feeling gives a significant impact. This ability needs a long process. It
even involves the feeling of guilt and sadness to encounter a state of being sensitive to others. Sometimes children need to feel at the bottom of guilt in order
to unders tand that other people’s feeling is important too.
Bruno got to the end of his sentence and realized that his voice had gone very quiet. These were things that Shmuel had told him, but for some reason he
hadn’t really understood at the time how sad that must have made his friend. When Bruno said them out loud himself he felt terrible that he hadn’t
tried to say anything to cheer Shmuel up and instead talking about something silly, like exploring.
I’ll say sorry for that tomorrow, he told himself.
Boyne, 2007:158
After quite some time Bruno realizes t hat his best friend’s story should not be
responded in a casual way. Bruno understands that his actions and responses never show his best
friend support. Bruno takes Shmuel’s problem too casually without considering Shmuel’s feeling as he was not able to relate to him. He
should have been more supportive to Shmuel when he listens to his stories. Although it takes time, Bruno finally understands that he should support his best
friend. Children need to find their own journey in understanding others. The feeling
of guilt does not come from other people. It should come from within. Children are able to feel the pleasure of understanding when they make certain discoveries
about themselves. Children need to dig deeper into their own self to find out about their own emotions and feelings. Bruno is the example of a child character
that undergoes several steps and a long process in order to understand that his behavior is wrong. Children could not instantly change their behavior from
ignorance to sensitive and observant. Children need a long process to understand their own emotional feelings. The most important thing is when children are able
to feel the pleasure of understanding their own self. When they realize their certain actions are wrong and they have the urge to resolve it.
Bruno nodded and turned round left the kitchen without looking back. His stomach churned inside him and he thought for a moment that he was going
to be sick. He had never felt so ashamed in his life; he had never imagined that he could behave so cruelly. He wandered how a boy who thought he
was a good person really could act in such a cowardly way towards a friend.
Boyne, 2007:172 The above quotation shows that Bruno feels guilty for what he did to Shmuel.
Bruno realizes that he should be brave enough to say the truth and face the consequences instead of telling a lie just because he is afraid. Bruno feels the
guilt as he understands that his behavior makes Shmuel upset. He realizes that he makes his best friend disappointed because he tells a lie instead of tells the truth
for his best friend. Bruno understands that he should not become a coward to hide from the truth.
The pleasure of understanding is not merely about the happiness that children get when they understand a sense of lesson. Moreover, most of understanding
comes from a personal experience when children get in touch with something they have never thought about. Experience teaches children some lessons which
make them understand the value of life. Children could feel ashamed as they realize that they do something wrong and against their own conscience. The
feeling of ashamed teaches them a lesson on how they should be honest to themselves and always stand for the truth. Those feeling are indeed the pleasure
of understanding of children when they experience certain events which make them realize the importance of honesty.
As children learn to interact with each other, they are able to show forms of affection in their interactions. Children often express their affection to their
