Friendship Across Ethnic Boundaries in John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Daniella Carmi’s Samir and Yonatan

Abstract

This paper examines friendship across ethnic boundaries in two young adult novels: John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Daniella Carmi’s Samir and Yonatan. In the first novel, the author recounts a story of the Holocaust during the Second World War while the latter deals with the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Although both young adult novels concern different ethnic backgrounds, they are both set in the midst of conflicts and wars between two nations. They present themes of crossing over ethnic boundaries and rejection of racial prejudice and violence. Although it seems that both authors create an ideal world for young adult readers to enjoy, Carmi implicitly presents the theme of racial difference in her novel by showing how Samir, a Palestinian boy learns to co-exist with the Israelis through the guidance of Yonatan, an Israeli boy, on a path toward peace. Such a narrative suggests that if Palestinians learn to live with the Israelis, their conflict will come to an end. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas features a friendship between Bruno, the son of a Nazi soldier, and Shmuel, the son of a Jew. Bruno disobeys his father’s command by secretively exploring the concentration camp. This gives him a chance to befriend Shmuel. However, Bruno keeps this friendship secret. Finally, this relationship ends tragically when the boys die in the concentration camp. Their concealed friendship can be interpreted as pointing to the impossibility of friendship between Nazis and Jews.