Chapters 18-20 Theme Development

Open Ended

Chapter 18 - What theme is conveyed in this excerpt? 

“I’m sorry,” said Shmuel. “Something happened.”.... “Well?” asked Bruno. “What was it?”

“Papa,” said Shmuel. “We can’t find him.” “Can’t find him? That’s very odd. You mean he’s lost?”

“I suppose so,” said Shmuel. “He was here on Monday and then he went on work duty with some other men and none of them have come back.”

“And hasn’t he written you a letter…or left a note to say when he’ll be coming back?”     ~ p. 194

Multiple Choice

Chapter 18 - Which detail from the chapter contributes to the theme

idea of boundaries ?

• Bruno reveals to Shmuel that he, Gretel, and Mother are planning to move back to 

  Berlin; and they will no longer be able to visit  each other.

• Bruno and Shmuel devise a plan that Bruno will impersonate a Jewish boy and 

  sneak into the camp under the barbed wire.

• Bruno and Shmuel share their feelings about how they will miss each other once 

  Bruno and his family move away.

• Bruno decides to shave his head to look like Shmuel, and he asks him for a set of the 

  striped pajamas as a souvenir of their friendship.

Open Ended

Chapter 19- What theme is conveyed i?

He had thought there would be a shop in the centre, and maybe a small café like the ones he had known in Berlin; he had wondered whether there would be a fruit and vegetable stall.

As it turned out, all the things that he thought might be there – weren’t. There were no grown-ups sitting on their rocking chairs on their porches. And the children weren’t playing games in groups….

Instead there were crowds of people sitting together in groups, staring at the ground looking horribly sad…                       ~ p. 207

Multiple Choice

In chapters 19-20, how does the author develop the theme that loss can have long-lasting impacts?

• by illustrating that Shmuel and Bruno searched for Shmuel’s father without 

  ever finding out what happened to him

• by illustrating that although Bruno couldn’t reconnect with his friends from 

  Berlin, Shmuel had helped filled that void for many years

• by illustrating that the loss of Bruno caused extreme heartache in Mother, 

  and Father became more cruel to the soldiers under him

• by illustrating that the loss of Bruno’s grandmother and Shmuel’s father 

  caused the boys to want to play more together