Prisoners of war comparison

A prisoner of war can be defined as somebody who is captured or imprisoned by the enemy during an act of war. Anybody can be a prisoner of war, even an eight year old civilian who is simply caught in the crossfire. Both “Augmentation Boy”, a novel written by Anna Pepper, and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”, a film directed by Mark Herman, revolve around two key issues relating to the main theme of Prisoners of War. The Issues are Innocence of Children and Discrimination. All of the three main characters (Khalid’s, Bruno and Samuel) are affected by the war, some more than there, and two of which lose their lives due to It.

The Issue of Discrimination Is an ongoing problem In today’s society. It Is explored In both texts through the unjust treatment of the characters due to their race, gender, religion or other characteristics. Delimitation Is shown against prisoners, regardless where or why they are currently being held captive. This has been thoroughly explored in both ‘The Boy In the striped Pajamas’ and ‘Augmentation Boy. In the novel, Khalid’s is asked what other international cities he was planning on bombing? (P. G. 01 ) It shows how the protagonist was accused of being a terrorist due to his middle-eastern origin.

Even though he is innocent, his captors do not believe him because of his physical appearance. This issue has also been explored in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’. A prime example of this is the comparison between Bruno and Samuel, the first time they meet. There is an eye-level long shot of Bruno with lush forest as a backdrop. In contrast, there is a high angle, medium length shot of Samuel sitting in the dirt with the barbed wire fence obscuring his face. This is significant in that Bruno is portrayed as the dominant and well to do character with Samuel as the poor Jew.

Although both Samuel and Khalid’s are discriminated against, it is not for the same reason for both of the boys. Presumptions are made about Samuel because of his Jewish faith and Khalid’s is falsely accused of crimes he did not commit because of his Arabic background. It is a stereotypical view of races and their abilities to commit crimes. A second issue which is prominent in both texts is Innocence of Children. It is shown In the novel on pages 195 and 196 “Imagine playing spin the bottle mixed with Images of small children being blown up. This quote Is representative of the fact that Khalid’s finds it difficult to remember things about his past without having them disrupted by graphic visions due to the penitentiary that Is Augmentation Bay. The true effects of the unjust and Inhuman treatment of Khalid’s were not shown when he was being tortured, but more so later on In the form of nightmares and Invasions of his memories. The small children being blown up were used by the author to show hat the child Inside Khalid’s has also been ‘blown up’ and he Is forced to mature and adapt to survive, losing his childhood Innocence along the way.

In The boy In the Striped Pajamas’, Samuel also loses his Innocence, as being In the camp and treated as an adult forces him to grow up and do whatever he can to survive Just Like Khalid’s into the gas chamber for a shower. Both young boys believed that it was actually a shower, Bruno more than Samuel, but the men all knew the truth. Bruno in innocent his whole life, right up until he dies. A prime example of this issue in the text is after Bruno sneaks in to the Jewish camp and thinks that they are being put undercover to wait for the rain to stop.

There is a slightly high angle medium shot when this is stated by Bruno, who then receives a surprised look from Samuel. Consequently, it can be seen that both The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Augmentation Bay have a direct correlation to both issues of Discrimination and Innocence of Children. The study of both texts conveyed similar key themes to the audience, in a similar manner. Although two different types of texts, the novel and elm use emotive language and camera angles to assist in getting across their message.

The purpose of both texts was to educate the reader of the horrific treatment that children were and are forced to endure in their respective prisons as a prisoner of war. Prisoners of war can be innocents. Regardless of intent, civilians (including children) often are the unwitting casualties simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. During war time, soldiers follow orders. When under threat or fear of threat, authorities take drastic action. Even if an innocent is caught in the crossfire.