The second one is used to reveal how the dark themes represent the pleasure of the main characters. The complete data can be found in the appendices.
1. Kinds of Dark Themes
There are various data found in the novel related to the research. The researcher found
v arious dark themes of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped
Pyjamas. The data are categorized into five classifications. There are five dark themes found in the novel: children’s anger, people’s oppression toward children,
children’s sadness, children’s insecurity, and children’s dark environment. Those five dark themes are considered as the main data classification of the research.
These findings are explained in the following.
a. Children’s Anger
The first theme found in the novel is anger. Anger has been one of the most natural expressions of frustration. Anger might be performed in the simplest thing
like losing toys or even the hard ways of separation. Children are not excluded from the expression of anger. Some children will let out their anger and some
others decide to keep their anger inside. Many of them let out their anger without even realizing it. Therefore, it is a form of a spontaneous action when they feel
shocked and angry. The anger
is mostly referred to the child’s main character of the novel, Bruno. As an innocent character, Bruno shows many emotions towards the new
environment he has to deal with. When Bruno’s family leaves Berlin for Out- With, that is the time when Bruno starts to show the dark side of him. In this case,
Bruno is forced to leave Berlin and his best friends. B runo’s explosion of anger
and surprise can be seen in the datum below. ‘Say goodbye to them?’ he asked, staring at her in surprise. ‘Say goodbye to
them?’ he repeated, spluttering out the words as if his mouth was full of
biscuits that he’d munch into tiny pieces but not actually swallowed yet. ‘Say goodbye to Karl and Daniel and Martin?’ he continued, his voice coming
dangerously close to shouting, which was not allowed indoors. ‘But
they’re my three best friends for life.’ Boyne, 2007:7
In this novel, Bruno shows the hardship of separation. As a form of a spontaneous action, Bruno lets out his anger when he hears the news that he will moves from
Berlin. The thought of leaving his three best friends also makes him burst in anger. As a child, Bruno is attached to his three best friends as they always spent
time together. When he hears the news, he automatically protests his mother. Children’s reaction to a sudden separation could be in different ways. Anger
is one of the most common emotion children could feel as a form of rejection. Anger also could be a form of confusion because children feel the anxiety of
having a different routine. In the quotation below, it shows how Bruno reacts to his new house after he moves.
‘Everything here is horrible,’ he said out loud, even though there was no one present to hear him, but somehow it made him feel better to hear the words
stated anyway.
‘I hate this house, i hate my room and i even hate the paintwork. I hate it all. Absolut
ely everything.’ Boyne, 2007:55
