Boyne 46. Once, Bruno accidentally reveals his friendship with Shmuel to his sister, Gretel. When Gretel demands his explanations about it, he tries to tell a lie
because he does not want her to know his secret friendship with Shmuel. However, he has difficulties on convincing her by telling that it is just an imaginary friendship
Boyne 154-155. He is not accustomed to telling a lie. It shows that he is an honest person.
Bruno is also a polite and respectful person. He always tries to be nice to all people he meets, regardless who they are. He talks politely with Maria the family
maid, unlike Gretel who never thinks that servants are people with feelings. Once, he even argues with Gretel by saying that Maria, despite the fact that she is a maid,
is not there just to do things for them all the time, especially things that they can do themselves Boyne 36. Bruno even tries to be nice to Lieutenant Kotler although
Bruno actually hates him. When Lieutenant Kotler makes fun of him, Bruno keeps talking politely Boyne 41-42. The second aspect to show that Bruno is polite is
that he never interrupts people when they are talking to him. It is because his parents always teach him the rules of politeness, such as never interrupting older
people when they are talking Boyne 8 and being obedient to parents because they make all decisions for the family Boyne 12.
4.1.1.2 Shmuel
In Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Shmuel is portrayed as a flat character. He remains the same from the first time he meets Bruno until the end of
the story. Shmuel is a Jewish boy. He is nine years old and has the same birthday with Bruno, which is April the fifteenth nineteen thirty-four Boyne 109. Before he
comes to Out-With, he lives with his father and mother and his brother Josef in a small flat above the store where his father makes watches. However, in their first
meeting, Bruno describes him as the skinniest and saddest boy he meets in life. When Bruno first approached the boy, he was sitting cross-legged on the
ground, staring at the dust beneath him. However, after a moment he looked up and Bruno saw his face. It was quite a strange face too. His skin was
almost the colour of grey, but not quite like any grey that Bruno had ever seen before. He had very large eyes and they were the colour of caramel
sweets; the whites were very white, and when the boy looked at him all Bruno could see was an enormous pair of sad eyes staring back.
Bruno was sure that he had never seen a skinnier or sadder boy in his life but decided that he had better talk to him Boyne 106-107.
From Bruno’s descriptions, we can see that Shmuel’s physical appearance is very pitiful. It is caused by the conditions in Out-With. As a Jewish person, Shmuel is
imprisoned along with many other Jews by Nazi soldiers who treat them badly and even torture them. The suffering cause them to have such sad appearances.
Shmuel’s manners, thoughts, and speeches show that he is a loner and melancholic boy. Shmuel can always be found in a quiet spot near the fence. He
says the reason why he always comes there is that he avoids everyone in the camp because they fight a lot of the time Boyne 110. It shows that he is loner. Further,
he loves to be left alone so that he can remember about his life before being put in a camp Boyne 129. Although the memories make him very sad, he keeps
remembering them. It is a proof that he is a melancholic person. Shmuel’s conversations with Bruno also strengthen the idea that he is melancholic. Most of
Shmuel’s stories that he shares to Bruno tell his suffering as a Jewish boy. Like other Jewish people in Word War II era, Shmuel is treated cruelly. Shmuel and his
family are forced to leave their house. Soldiers seize everything they have. Finally, Shmuel and his family are moved to Out-With camp, where Shmuel’s mother is
taken away from them. Shmuel, his Papa and his grandfather live together inside the camp Boyne 126-130.
Shmuel’s manners and expressions show that he is a passive person. Shmuel rarely shows his emotions openly. When Shmuel tells his stories, he often shares
them without showing any emotions although they are sad experiences Boyne 126- 130. When Bruno finds him with bruised face, he does not want to talk about it
Boyne 150. It shows that he is passive. A passive person rarely expresses what he feels. He accepts all punishments aimed at him, without taking any actions. He
prefers to pretend that nothing happens to him. Despite of his young age, Shmuel is a smart boy. He can speak two
languages, German and Polish. He talks with Bruno in German, although he implicitly states that he can also speak Polish by saying that he comes from Poland
Boyne 111. He is taught by his mother, who is a teacher in his school and can speak many languages.
4.1.2 Their Motives to Establish a Friendship
