The most intensive killing during the holocaust happened on September 28th, 1941 at the Babi Yar Ravine outside of Kier, Ukraine. During the two-day span more than 33, these Jews were killed using the same method Moishe the beetle warns Elie of. In the book and movie, we see similar acts of violence towards the Jew race.
‘Night’ is a true story told in the first-person narrative by Elie Wiesel a persecuted Jew who visits many concentration camps on his journey. Although his dad did not survive the camps he was with Elie until the end dying a few months before Elie’s rescue. The movie ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’, based on the novel of the same name by John Boyne, is told from a third person narrative with the main character being a young German boy named Bruno. Bruno’s dad has been given a promotion in the Nazi army, which causes his family to move out to a large house near a concentration camp. As Bruno is exploring, he meets a friend who happens to be a Jew in the camp and they are separated by the barbed wire fence until the end of the movie.
In ‘Night’ Elie is a Jew who is taken from his hometown and forced thousands of miles away to many different camps where he is punished and his will to live diminishes to the point, he wants death. In ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Bruno is forced to move across the country because of his father’s new job. The family doesn’t realize what is going on with his new job and after the realization nothing is done to fix the problems and it turns out to be fatal. In ‘Night’ Elie is on the inside of the barbed wire fence and knows that his clothes represent that he is imprisoned. In ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Bruno believes that the fence is up to keep animals in and that the camp is really a farm. He also believes that life is good for the Jews and that the prison clothes are pajamas. Bruno is used to having someone there to help him or do whatever he needs done while Elie has to work for whatever he wants.
In both works the main character is a young male who is trying to make the best out of every situation he’s put in. In ‘Night’ even when Elie is feeling down and hopeless, he tries to make the best out of everything and he tries to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Bruno is used to getting whatever he wants whenever he wants it and always having someone there to help him, however when he is called upon by Shmuel to help find his dad Bruno takes action. Both characters get to see what a concentration camp was like and even when it took Bruno a while to realize the horror of it, he ended up feeling the worst part when he was gassed. Elie was a Jew, so he loved Jews and believed that they did no wrong the surprising part is that Bruno the son of a Nazi commander felt the exact same. Both of the characters tried their best to do what was right and unfortunately it ended in death for Bruno.
In conclusion, I believe that these are pretty similar novels even if it is from two completely different perspectives. The characters in both are very loving, caring, and they respect others and try to help to the best of their abilities. The endings for both were pretty bad as Bruno is killed in the biggest plot twist ever and Elie stops writing for months and comes back and ends it saying he’s been freed. The movie was more enjoyable and emotional because Bruno was a lot more loving and caring for others so he grew onto you and it was sad to see him go out the way he did. Elie never died but he did cut off most of his writing after his father died and that made for a very trash ending to his book, which isn’t the best I have read, but I would give it a seven out of ten, and the movie would be a nine out of ten and I recommend you check it out.