The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas/Headscratchers

• The puns on the misheard names. It's assumed all the characters are speaking German, so how do they come up with a pun on "Out With" for "Auschwitz"? "Fury" for "Führer" might make sense if Bruno had been exposed to Greek mythology. I know, with all the controversy and arguments over historical accuracy, this is the one thing that really bugged me!
  • Translation Convention?
    • Remember Bruno has no idea what's really happening. That's why the title's called The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas because he genuinely believes that "Auschwitz" is just some weird camp called "Out With" and it's where a bunch of people wear strange looking pyjamas... and he wants in on it. It takes simple childhood wonder and turns it into Nightmare Fuel.
• Bruno's nine-years-old, living in Nazi Germany and he has absolutely no idea who the hell Adolf Hitler is? Can someone explain this to me? Now, I don't expect a nine-year-old to understand the full extent of Hitler's evilness, but at the very least, Bruno should know the name of the guy running their country.
  • I dunno, when I was little I didn't really know much about politics at all until I was older. If it weren't for tv and modern media I probably would have never known about our leader as a little kid.
    • I fully agree with this troper, if I was able to vote when I was 12 let alone 9, I would've voted for the guy already in power, simply because I was used to him and my parents liked him. All Bruno knows is that the Fuhrer is in charge.
  • But surely you would have read about it in the papers, heard people talk about him? Even if someone in 2011 never had internet/TV (let's assume for the sake of argument that the kid's parents are anti-technology), he/she would still, by word of mouth or from newspaper, know that the United States president is Barack Obama or the French president is Nicolas Sarkozy. Bruno's just nine, not... ah... slow? He would've heard pappy talking about Hitler, read about Hitler in the papers. AT THE VERY LEAST he should know what the hell his parents are talking about when they say Hitler.
    • He might know him as "the fuhrer", but he is simply never been interested in politics, because he's a kid, he can't even stand trying to pay attention to the history classes he was taking.
      • Readers trying to excuse Bruno's unfamiliarity with Hitler are missing the point. A nine-year old in Nazi Germany not knowing who Hitler was, was not like a modern day nine-year old in America not knowing who Barack Obama is. Hitler was not simply a national leader: in the Nazi era he was effectively deified by Goebbels' propaganda machine, and ordinary Germans were reminded of his messianic status at every given opportunity - especially children. It is implied that Bruno had been to school in Berlin, so it is simply unbelievable that he wouldn't have seen portraits of Hitler hanging in classrooms or have sung hymns or said prayers in honour of the Fuhrer - which, by the way, isn't all that difficult a word for a German-speaking nine-year old to pronounce!
• Auschwitz, like any other prison camp, was guarded very heavily indeed... how does this kid manage to sneak past all their security?
  • Willing Suspension of Disbelief for the sake of Rule of Drama.
  • Who's going to bother about a little kid?
  • Are you asking why the NAZIS wouldn't bother a little kid?
    • Just because they were Nazis didn't mean they automatically assumed every child walking around was a high priority threat.
    • Well, yeah, but they still aren't just gonna let a little kid go around sneaking past the guards.