The Pleasure of Observing

is able to tell that there is something wrong about the way Pavel moves. The quotation below shows the way Bruno is being observant He seemed to grow smaller and smaller each week, if such a thing were possible, and the colour that should have been in his cheeks had drained almost entirely away. His eyes appeared heavy with tears and Bruno thought that one good blink might bring in a torrent. When Pave came in with plates, Bruno couldn’t help but notice that his hands were shaking slightly under the weight of them. And when he stepped back to his usual position he seemed to sway on his feet and had to press a hand against the wall to a steady himself. Boyne, 2007:142 The way Bruno describes Pavel’s change of appearance indicates that he always observes Pavel every day. Pavel is someone he always meets in the house. Bruno closely observes every single movement of Pavel which makes him think that he is different from his usual self. Bruno is able to describe in his own way how Pavel does the house chores with shaking hands. Pavel looks terrible with the teary eyes and the body that gets skinnier day by day. The way children observe every single thing around them is part of the pleasure. Regardless the things they see, it always brings pleasure to children. When children are aware of the things around them, they will be able to be sensitive. The sensitivity of their feeling surely leads to another kind of pleasure when they are able to relate to others. Furthermore, being observant children is the way for them to be able to have more contact to the society around them. To be able recognize the pattern of people and the changing society. This is certainly the pleasure of observing. The way children portray the changes that happen around them could also be in a unique way. Although what they see is not always in a good sight, they are able to observe and find the newness and the changes of the thing they see. Observing does not always mean to find the new things and the changes. It also helps children to find the similarity between one thing to another. They can also recognize the way people have similarity. The situation could be seen in the datum below. As if to prove something that Bruno already knew, he held his hand out and Bruno couldn’t help but notice that it was like the hand of the rented skeleton that Herr Liszt had brought with him one day when they were studying human anatomy . Boyne, 2007:166 Bruno brings Shmuel’s hands into his and notices how skinny Shmuel’s hands are. He remembers the skeleton he saw and it looks like Shmuel’s hands now. He finds the similarity between the skeleton and Shmuel’s hands. Bruno uses his own knowledge to visualize how skinny Shmuel’s hands are. Although the fact that he sees is a sad scene, he is able to find the pleasure in relating his knowledge to what he sees. On the other side, children need to see something which is totally the opposite of their usual environment. They should be exposed to a broader environment and atmosphere. The exposure of a new place and environment will enrich not only their knowledge of the world but also their sensitivity to react to their surroundings. Children should know when they observe their surrounding that this world is not only consisting of happy places and good people. Children are not only need to see the world but also to experience the new things by themselves. It is a good way to help children being sensitive persons. The newness is experienced by Bruno in the huts as he visits Shmuel. He experiences a completely new environment in the huts. The new environment makes Bruno astonished with the new sight. The datum below illustrates the way Bruno finds the newness is a pleasure. Instead there were crowds of people sitting together in groups, staring at the ground, looking horribly sad; they all had one thing in common: they were terribly skinny and their eyes were sunken and they all had shaved heads, which Bruno thought must have meant there had been an outbreak of lice here too. In one corner Bruno could see three soldiers who seemed to be in charge of a group of about twenty men. They were shouting at them, and some of the men had fallen to their knees and were remaining there with their heads in their hands. In another corner he could see more soldiers standing around and laughing and looking down the barrels of their guns, aiming them in random directions, but not firing them. In fact everywhere he looked, all he could see was two different types of people: either happy, laughing, shouting soldiers in their uniforms or unhappy, crying people in their pyjamas, most of whom seemed to be staring into space as if they were actually asleep . Boyne, 2007:204 Bruno observes his surrounding where every single thing is different from his normal life. Bruno is able to see closely the things he has never seen before. He observes carefully every single new thing in his sight. He describes the people in the huts in details and tries to relate it with his own knowledge or experience. Bruno is able to differentiate the two contrast groups in the huts. He finds the pleasure of thinking while he observes the new situation in front of him. He sees that the condition between people in the striped pyjamas and the soldier is extremely different. The contrast views in front of him make him confused when he thinks about the pattern of people in the huts. Children could feel the simple pleasure from the things they see for the first time, either happy ones or sad ones. Most of the experience might be confusing to children, but still they find the pleasure in the new experience. Seeing a contrast view will enrich their learning and understanding because it triggers their curiosity to know more about the situation. Children’s exposure of different experience and view is the most valuable lesson they get in their life as they are able to see such things and try to relate to others. In conclusion, observing is part of children’s adventure. Regardless the feeling they get when they relate to the new event, they still find the newness as the pleasure of seeing new things and pleasure of experiencing new events.

b. The Pleasure of Learning

Learning is part of children’s nature as they develop a sense of curiosity. Learning is not only a matter of taking a subject in schools or the other formal education. Everything around children could be part of their learning process. The learning process of children includes their way to socialize with people, practice their sense of humanity, and preserve the nature around them. The process requires a long hardship and contacts with the nature and social life. Children should explore their way of thinking and they should deal with their own problem to help them grow more mature. Children need to learn from their surroundings. They should be aware and responsive to their own environment as the closest place to learn. When they are sensitive enough to recognize their own nature, they will grow as mature children who appreciate the broader world. The learning process includes the exploration they make during their play and interacts with others. It is the nature of children to go out on adventures and discover new challenges. Furthermore, many of them also have the urge to break rules to discover their adventure. This is the nature of children to be excited and to be driven by their own thrills to go out and have adventure. Children might not realize it, but the facts that they make adventure are also considered as they make discoveries to learn. In the novel, Bruno as the child character is craving for some adventure as he gets bored in his new house. He wants to go out and make his own discoveries about the new house. He is aware that his new house is strange compared to his old one. Thus, he wants to go out and find out what is out there. He reached out and touched it for a moment, and the bronze was very cold so he pulled his fingers away before taking a deep breath and beginning his journey . The one thing Bruno tried not to think about was that he had been told on countless occasions by both Mother and Father that he was not allowed to walk in this direction, that he was not allowed anywhere near the fence or the camp, and most particularly that exploration was banned at Out-With. Boyne, 2007:102 Bruno realizes that his exploration is dangerous because his mother and father forbid him to come near the fence. Bruno feels the thrills as he dares himself to touch the bronze plank of the fence. He knows that the area is forbidden for him to explore but he stills wants to make his own journey. In this state, Bruno feels the pleasure of making a new discovery. He has the urge to go out and explore the new area although it is forbidden for him. He wants to do it on his own because his parents never explained to him on why the place is dangerous for him. Furthermore, Bruno decides to make his own discovery about the new place. The pleasure of exploring the new area gives him the joy of an adventure. C hildren’s state of learning does not only stop with the facts that they gain something from what they see and observe but also from what they discover. Children feel the pleasure of learning about the new adventures and find the new discoveries about the place they have never been. The thrills of learning from a forbidden place are also part of the pleasure. Children feel the superiority of being able to go to a forbidden place with so much adventure on their mind. Children’s will of exploration and learning is not mainly concerned when they break rules. The learning process could simply come from the people around them. Their sense of curiosity could drive their eagerness to know more and to learn more about something they have never known before. The datum blow illustrates Bruno’s curiosity of people on the outside of the fence. ‘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.’ Boyne, 2007:182 On the above datum, Bruno learns that the Jews are the people from the other side of the fence who wear the striped pyjamas. Before he knew that they are Jews, Bruno keeps addressing them as the people who wear the striped pyjamas. Bruno also learns that his side of the fence does not like the Jews. Bruno keeps looking for the information because none of his family explains it to him. He finds the courage to ask his sister about the fence which separates them. The pleasure of learning could be analyzed when Bruno fulfills his curiosity to know the real situation about the fence. Bruno has been wondering long enough about the existence of the fence, on why such strange fence separates two different places. Bruno feels the pleasure of knowing about the real situation of the two sides of the fence. It also emerges another curiosity on why his side does not like the Jews. The curiosity could be counted as part of Bruno’s pleasure in learning further knowledge about both sides of the fence. Bruno learns more about the other side of fence as he meets the boy named Shmuel from the Huts. Shmuel does not only fulfill B runo’s hunger of learning about the other side of the fence but also helps Bruno develop his sense of 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