Characters
The boy Bruno meets behind the fence of Out-With.
Who is Schmuel?
The cause of an intense argument between Grandmother and Father.
What is Father's promotion? What is the commandant uniform?
An example of this type of figurative language would be "as busy as a bee."
The real name of Out-With.
What is Auschwitz?
"Bruno, if you have any sense at all, you will stay quiet and concentrate on your school work and do whatever your father tells you. We must all just keep ourselves safe until this is all over. That's what I intend to do anyway. What more can we do than that after all? It's not up to us to change things."
Who is Maria?
The tutor that forces Bruno to learn specifically History and Geography.
Who is Herr Liszt?
The place Bruno is banned to explore with no exceptions. Bruno explores this area anyway.
What is Out-With?
This type of figurative language directly compares two unrelated things, such as "the world is a stage."
What is a metaphor?
What Schmuel's mother once did for a career.
What is teaching?
"But there are a lot of us - boys our age, I mean - on this side of the fence. We fight a lot of the time though. That's why I come out here. To be on my own."
The waiter who was once a doctor, he helps Bruno mend an injury after an accident on Bruno's tire swing.
Who is Pavel?
The materials of which Bruno made a swing.
What is a rope and tire?
The literary device that gives human characteristics to non-human objects or animals, like "the wind whispered secrets."
What is personification?
The country of which Out-With resides.
What is Poland?
"I wonder - is this where I went wrong with you, Ralf?" "I wonder if all the performances I made you give as a boy led you to this. Dressing up like a puppet on a string."
Who is Grandmother?
Bruno's three best friends.
Who are Karl, Daniel, and Martin?
What is World War I?
The term for exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally, like "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
What is hyperbole?
The symbol that Schmuel has on his arm.
What is the Star of David?
"Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know."
Who is Pavel?
A rude individual who works under Father, he is known for his cruel demeanor. Bruno is not fond of him.
Who is Lieutenant Kurt Kotler?
The cause of Herr Roller's odd behaviors?
What is PTSD?
OR
What are the effects of World War I?
The literary device where words imitate the sound they represent, like buzz or hiss.
What is onomatopoeia?
The member of Bruno's family who owns a restaurant.
Grandfather.
"Not your history," interrupted _____. "Not your own personal history. I mean the history of who you are, where you come from. Your family's heritage. The Fatherland."
Who is Herr Liszt?