children lied about their age to survive the selection. Many of them suffered starvation, diseases, and sexual abuses. In Auschwitz camp, they were even used as
objects of brutal experiments Laqueur 117-118. Being silent and passive were the only ways to avoid soldier’s attentions towards them. It explains Shmuel’s
reluctancy to tell Bruno about his conditions because he tries not to attract any attentions that may provoke soldiers to search and find him.
Once, their friendship seems to get worse when Shmuel, who works in Bruno’s house as a servant, is caught of eating food given by Bruno. When
threatened by Lieutenant Kotler, Shmuel admits that Bruno is the one who gives the food because he is a friend of Shmuel. Bruno, in his fear towards Lieutenant Kotler,
says that he does not know Shmuel Boyne 172. This action can be explained through the historical background in that era. Nazi Germany’s rules deprived
Jewish children from all of basic rights, including the right to attend schools. The idea was to separate Jewish children from German children as Nazi believed that
Jews tried to spread bad influence towards German people. Both German and Jewish children were to obey that rules Laqueur 115. That is why Bruno tries to
deny the fact that he is a friend of Shmuel. However, both Bruno and Shmuel can manage to apologize and forgive each other after the incident. The result is that the
incident does not make their friendship ends. Instead, it strengthens their friendship in a more intimate level.
4.1.3.3 Showing That the Friendship is Growing
The third stage of development of friendship based on Duck’s theory is showing that the friendship is growing. This stage begins when friends realize that
they have become close friends. Their intimate must be indicated in behaviours. That is why they try to show to outsiders that they are close friends in order to gain
other people’s acceptance of their new friend. They also start evaluating themselves and their friendship so that they can get focus on their relationship itself and their
feelings about it Duck 93-95. Concerning the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel, there is a difference
that they cannot show their friendship to other people. We can see the example in Bruno’s dilemma. On several occasions, he is so happy and excited that he wants to
tell his family about his new friend. Sometimes he almost uncovers his friendship unconsciously, such as when he talks to his sister Gretel Boyne153-154 and his
father Boyne 191. Actually, his actions indicate that he actually wants to tell his family about his new friend so that they approve and acknowledge their friendship.
However, he finally decides that this is not a good idea to tell them about it. He worries that his family do not like Shmuel and say unpleasant things about him
Boyne 133. At first, Bruno does not realize the impact of the difference that he is a
German boy while Shmuel is a Jew on their friendship. He does not even know what the Jews are until his sister Gretel explains to him and why they must hate
Jewish people. “Jews,” said Bruno, testing the word out. He quite liked the way it sounded.
“Jews,” he repeated. “All the people over that side of the fence are Jews.” “Yes, that’s right,” said Gretel.
“Are we Jews?” Gretel opened her mouth wide, as if she had been slapped in the face. “No,
Bruno,” she said. “No, we most certainly are not. And you shouldn’t even say something like that.”
“But why not? What are we then?”
“We’re...” began Gretel, but then she had to stop to think about it. “We’re...” she repeated, but she wasn’t quite sure what the answer to this
question really was. “Well, we’re not Jews,” she said finally.
“I know we’re not,” said Bruno in frustration. “I’m asking you, if we’re not Jews, what are we instead?”
“We’re the opposite,” said Gretel, answering quickly and sounding a lot more satisfied with this answer. “Yes, that’s it. We’re the opposite.”
“All right,” said Bruno, pleased that he had it settled in his head at last. “And the Opposite live on this side of the fence and the Jews live on that.”
“That’s right, Bruno.” “Don’t the Jews like the Opposite then?”
“No, it’s us who don’t like them, stupid.” Bruno frowned. Gretel had been told time and time again that she wasn’t
allowed to call him stupid but still she persisted with it. “Well, why don’t we like them?” he asked.
“Because they’re Jews,” said Gretel. “I see. And the Opposite and the Jews don’t get along.”
“No, Bruno,” said Gretel, but she said this slowly because she had discovered something unusual in her hair and was examining it carefully
Boyne 182-183.
Based on the idea of Nazism, Jewish and German people could not live together. Jews had to be eliminated in order to give German people living places. At that
time, the Jews were supposed to be hated and alienated Hitler 391-394. However, Bruno and Shmuel still maintain their friendship because they need each other and
they never see the difference of their races as a reason to end their friendship. The hatred growing in their environment does not stop them to keep their friendship.
Instead, it strengthens the bond between them through accepting their conditions and not revealing their friendship to anybody.
Shmuel seems to realize more than Bruno that their friendship must be kept as a secret. Since the place where they meet is actually a spot in the corner of the
camp’s fence and Shmuel is not supposed to be there, it should be kept hidden. From the historical point of view, Jewish prisoners were imprisoned in horrible
camps guarded by Nazi soldiers. The soldiers were given authorities to kill
prisoners if they did not obey the rules of the camp or tried to escape Laqueur 175- 177. That is why it is best to meet and have conversation secretly, otherwise the
soldiers will find them and Shmuel will be in trouble. Therefore, when Bruno asks Shmuel whether he will be allowed to crawl underneath the wire so that they can
play together on the other side of the fence, Shmuel always refuses Boyne 150. As stated by Duck, in this stage friends communicate more about their
shared past. It requires them to evaluate themselves and their friendship in order to get focus on their relationship itself and their feelings about it 93. In the novel, we
can see that Bruno and Shmuel do the same thing after their friendship takes place almost a year.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find your papa,” said Bruno. “It’s all right,” said Shmuel.
“And I’m sorry we didn’t really get to play, but when you come to Berlin, that’s what we’ll do. And I’ll introduce you to....Oh, what were their names
again?” he asked himself, frustrated because they were supposed to be his three best friends for life but they had all vanished from his memory now.
He couldn’t remember any of their names and he couldn’t picture any of their face.
“Actually,” he said, looking down at Shmuel, “it doesn’t matter whether I do or don’t. They’re not my best friends any more anyway.” He looked
down and did something quite out of character for him: he took hold of Shmuel’s tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly.
“You’re my best friend, Shmuel,” he said, “My best friend for life” Boyne 212.
Bruno’s speeches and thoughts indicate that he evaluates himself and his friendship. He also tries to show all things they can do if their conditions are
different. Bruno does not even remember his best friends in Berlin. Bruno confesses that Shmuel is his best friend to show that he realizes this fact and
implicitly states his hope to continue their friendship. Although they have several difficulties, they can still develop their friendship to be highly intimate.
4.2 Ways of Maintaining Their Friendship
A person must maintain his friendship if they hope to be a good friend of someone. There are ways of maintaining a friendship. Beebe 336-338 proposes
several ways, namely expressing emotion, providing comfort and social support, engaging in relationship talk, being tolerant and showing restraint, and managing
conflict cooperatively. In the novel, Bruno and Shmuel face many challenges and conflicts in increasing the intimacy of their friendship. However, they can manage
to keep their friendship well. This section describes the ways of maintaining their friendship based on Beebe’s theories.
4.2.1 Expressing Emotion
What Bruno and Shmuel do to maintain their friendship reflects some suggestions stated by Beebe 336-338. The first way to maintain a friendship is
expressing emotion. In the novel, Bruno and Shmuel show their efforts in maintaining friendship through expressing their emotions. They begin the
communication from simple things such as their names and origin Boyne 111. As their friendship getting closer, they share their opinions and interests towards
something, such as their opinions about their home Boyne 114 and what they want to be when they are big, that Bruno wants to be an explorer while Shmuel
wants to work in a zoo Boyne 139. They also share their feelings, such as when Bruno tells his opinions about his sister Boyne 141 and when Shmuel describes
his feelings towards soldiers. “I don’t think the soldiers like us,” said Shmuel. “Well,” he added with
something as close to a laugh as he could muster, “I know they don’t like us. They hate us.”
Bruno sat back in surprise. “I’m sure they don’t hate you,” he said.
