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The Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

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The Devil's Arithmetic And The Boy In The Striped Pajamas
The whole world has gone through some tough times, but not many things have been as horrible as the tragedies that happened during the Holocaust, not many things have been as harsh and heartbreaking as the events during the Holocaust. One of the pieces of writing that explains the almost unspeakable cruelty that we call the Holocaust is in a Scholastic Scope article “Betrayed by America” by Kristen Lewis. It was about an eleven year old boy who was in a concentration camp, he went through a hard time but when the war was over and done with they gave him money and let him go. Another narrative on this event was about a young boy Ben and his Holocaust experience who went through a really hard time and saw things we could only imagine. One of …show more content…
Both the historical pieces by Jane Yolen who wrote The Devil's Arithmetic and John Boyne who created The Boy in the Striped Pajamas use the power of relationships between characters to transfer the message about the Holocaust and the barbaric nature of the events. The connection between the characters is shown on page 159 in Yolen's book when the protagonist states, “ Run for your life Rivka. Run for your future. Run. Run. Run. And remember.” The author made the relationship between the characters so strong that it showed how hard it was to be in the camps and the sacrifices you had to make for loved ones. It proves that some people in the situation during the time of the tragedy were cruel but others were really good at heart and caught in a bad situation. The novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas used the same technique as Jane Yolen, the message the reader gets through friendships. It was conveyed on page 44 when the young child Bruno states, “ Father returned to his office which was out of bounds at all times and no exceptions.” This little boy is so young and it is hard for him to comprehend why people are on the other side of the fence held hostage and why his dad is always working. Through his eyes it doesn't make sense, which is what many people think of the Holocaust, but when you're a little …show more content…
One of the significant and strong styles used in both, Scholastic Scope articles “Teens Against Hitler” by Lauren Tarshis and “Betrayed by America” written by Kristen Lewis is the real life accounts that are described, which make it even more heartbreaking to read. One of the real life accounts in “ Teens Against Hitler” that is really eye opening is on page 8 when the narrator states, “ His entire family was dead.” You can read something and know right from wrong or bad from good, but when you read non- fiction and realize that this is a real live person with a real life story that is the most has the strongest impact . You can only imagine going through what someone has been through but even thinking about it can give a heartache. Tarshis also uses a real life account on page of her article which makes the article have a whole new aspect, “ He hated bathing in the one room shower, with its eight showerheads and no privacy.” Picturing what people went through during the Holocaust is almost impossible and something that hopefully will never happen again. All the heartaches people had and all the cruelty is awful. So many people in our world today take advantage of all the things we have and don’t realize how hard it was for people during the tragic time. Both the pieces have real life

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