Consequence

One move can make the world turn upside down. Only one move, and your life can shatter. We've all had times where we've thought, "if only I could go back in time..change this...do that..." and if you haven't, well, expect it to come in the future. There is a consequence to everything, every choice, word, action, and thought has a domino effect, positive, negative, or both. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne, Bruno moves near a concentration camp and befriends a young Jew forced into living there, innocently unaware of the horrible things beyond the fence. Yet, with this friendship comes a terrible price. John Boyne suggests that consequences are a natural, if occasionally unexpected, part of life that we need to deal with and learn to live through.

The consequences start off subtle in the beginning of the book, and the first noticeable one shows when Bruno asks his father about the people wearing grey pajamas across the fence in "Out-With". " 'Ah, those people,' said Father, nodding his head and smiling slightly. 'Those people... well, they're not really people at all, Bruno.' " This comment confuses Bruno as he does not yet understand the discrimination of Jews by Germans at the time, and also boosts his curiosity. What about these people made them not people? They looked the same, they walked the same. It seemed as if there was no differences at all. His curiosity eventually makes him dismiss his father's warnings to not go near the fence. And as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

Bruno's world slowly starts to tip when he sneaks out of his home and does some exploration. He wanders down along the fence until he sees Shmuel. Incredibly lonely from moving away from his friends, boredom takes over and he talks to the other boy despite his father's stern warning. They learn about each others' past and compare their current lives, eventually forming a bond. This is understandable for a young boy practically driven out of his mind by loneliness with no one of his age to talk to, yearning to just be in one's company. Especially with the only boys his age across the fence, he couldn't help but talk to Shmuel. Yet, all this changes when Shmuel's father disappears. The consequence of befriending Shmuel is shown when he dresses like one of the Jews and gets trapped with his death, yet, he wouldn't ever let go of Shmuel's hand. The intensity of their friendship was proved in the loyalty that Bruno showed to his new and only friend, yet the consequences of his actions were not just paid by him.

His family also suffered from his actions, as his death caused them all grief and shock, especially his father. We see in the book that Bruno's father changes drastically in personality in behavior, trying to find his lost son. He becomes harsh and unforgiving as a military official, and eventually realizes what a mistake it was to not heed his mother's warnings about moving. The position of "Out-With" makes it difficult to raise children because of the way they often jump into situations impulsively. Yet, by the time he realizes this, it's too late.

That one decision, the impulse to go explore, led to Bruno's death and the grief of his family. This is a perfect example of a domino effect, and begs us as growing teens to be aware of our own choices and the additional side-effects they may have. We should all try to step back and view our choices from the outside; flowing along with our hearts and without our minds may lead us to take the wrong turn at the split of a river, and we may eventually fall down a waterfall of regrets if we don't try to stop.