Bruno and Shmuel’s Friendship in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Bruno and Shmuel’s Relationship: Key Questions Answered

1. Shmuel’s Black Eye

When Bruno asked Shmuel why he had a black eye, Shmuel responded that he didn’t want to talk about it.

2. Bruno’s Regretful Words

When we read, “the words were out of his mouth quicker than he could stop them, and he felt a pain in his stomach and grew furious with himself for saying that,” Bruno had just told his sister, Gretel, that Shmuel would be waiting for him and that he would think Bruno had forgotten about him.

3. Bruno’s Imaginary Friend

When Gretel forced Bruno to explain what he was talking about, Bruno claimed he was talking about an imaginary friend.

4. Bruno’s Embarrassing Memories

To make himself seem embarrassed while telling this lie, Bruno tried to remember embarrassing things that had happened to him. Here are three examples:

• He fell off his bike while trying to do a trick in front of some girls, cut his knee, and started crying.
• He accidentally called his teacher “Mother” in class, and everyone laughed at him.
• He forgot to lock the bathroom door, and his grandmother walked in and saw “everything.”

5. Gretel’s Ironic Behavior

Gretel reminded Bruno that she was now thirteen and could not afford to act like a child. Ironically, right after that, she went to her room and started talking to her collection of dolls.

6. The Missing Chocolate Cake

Bruno didn’t give Shmuel chocolate cake because the walk from his house to their meeting spot was so long that he got hungry and ate the cake on the way.

7. Lieutenant Kotler’s Presence

Each time Father was called away to Berlin on an overnight trip, Lieutenant Kotler would spend more time around the house. He would be there when Bruno went to sleep and again when Bruno woke up.

8. Shmuel’s Task at Bruno’s House

Shmuel was brought to Bruno’s house to clean small glasses for a party Mother was planning for Father’s birthday. He was chosen because he had small, skinny fingers, a horrific consequence of the starvation he endured at the camp.

9. Shmuel’s Accusation of Theft

When Lieutenant Kotler accused Shmuel of stealing chicken from the fridge, Shmuel said that Bruno had offered it to him and that they were friends.

10. Bruno’s Denial

In response to Shmuel’s answer to Kotler, Bruno denied ever seeing or speaking to him before.

11. Bruno’s Guilt and Shame

After the incident in the kitchen with Shmuel and Kotler, Bruno couldn’t concentrate on his book, “Treasure Island,” because he felt guilty and ashamed for his cowardly act of denying his friendship with Shmuel.

12. Bruno’s Apology

The next time Bruno spoke to Shmuel at the fence, he apologized and said he was ashamed of himself for letting a friend down.

13. Shmuel’s Forgiveness

Shmuel lifted the bottom of the fence after Bruno’s apology because he had forgiven Bruno and wanted to shake his hand.

14. Mother and Gretel’s Shared Interest

Both Gretel and Bruno’s mother act differently when Lieutenant Kotler is around. They laugh at his jokes and try to flirt with him, indicating a shared interest in him.