For an author who describes a precarious and important topic like the Holocaust, perhaps the only adequate approach is through a fairy tale, like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas lines. In this novel, John Boyne creates main characters and a narrator who fit the criteria of a fairy tale, among other fairytale-like subject choices. Through language and textual features, Boyne weaves an authentic fable that successfully portrays and universalizes a sensitive social topic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay By creating characters who are vague in description, paired with archetypes or stereotypes, and taking part in extraordinary incidents, this novel fulfills the basic principles of a fairy tale. The protagonist, Bruno, falls into the archetype of the "innocent child", while the antagonist, Lieutenant Kotler, corresponds to the stereotype of the Nazi soldier but also seems like the villain of popular fairy tales. «He [Lieutenant Kotler] wore the same type of uniform as our father… and he looked very serious. ...Bruno could see that she had very blonde hair' (page 19). Most of the characters lack definitive representations: for example, the mother and father's real names are never given. Furthermore, the realistic probability that two protagonists from opposite ends of a social hierarchy would meet every day for almost a year, beyond the fence of a concentration camp, is very low. However, “Every afternoon…Bruno took a long walk…and talked with his…friend [Shmuel]” (p. 138). In light of the social tensions that would arise in real life, such circumstances are very unlikely to occur in reality. In describing the Holocaust through the eyes of an innocent child, unaware of the evil lurking in his society, as well as making child-friendly language choices, John Boyne has even created an innocent, fairy-tale tone that avoids addressing the historical and moral complexity of the Holocaust. Through the innocence and ignorance of the young narrator, the novel indulges in child-friendly language and vocabulary and is almost naïve in its description. For example, Hitler is called "the Fury" (p. 3) and the Auschwitz concentration camp is pronounced as "Out" (p. 25). The text avoids the disturbing details of the Holocaust, instead offering a short fictional history that views historical torture from a safe distance. Finally, Boyne is able to present the sensitive topic of the Holocaust by focusing on characters who do not have particularly clear historical models. . One of the aspects of a fairy tale is the unmistakable aspect of fiction, and although the Holocaust is not a fictional event at all, the circumstances and characters within the text are fictional; there is no evidence to prove that Bruno or Shmuel ever existed. Furthermore, fairy tales are not concerned with being realistic or accurate; the topic is instead used to communicate a moral, which in this text is "treat others as you would like to be treated." The ignorance and innocence depicted allows Boyne to hide the details. For example, Shmuel is first described as "the dot that becomes a speck that becomes a mass that becomes a figure that becomes a boy" (p. 107). Crucially, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas includes topic choices that help keep the reader at an imaginative, fairytale-like distance. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Usage Language and textual features, John Boyne presents his novel The Boy in the Pajamas.