The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Characters

Let's face it: Kids are usually pretty perceptive, constantly paying attention and noticing things, especially when they're not supposed to. It's just how they roll. So why, we wonder, does Bruno n...

Shmuel is Bruno's dream come true: He's a kid, a good listener, and he has the same exact birthday as our main man. But Shmuel is no ordinary boy—nope, he's a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz. So eve...

Gretel is Bruno's older and, as far as she's concerned, wiser sister. She and Bruno don't talk much, even though there's nobody else around to hang out with, and for the most part, Gretel serves as...

Bruno's mother is what some politicians might call a flip-flopper. If she's with Bruno, she's her husband's number one fan: "It's a very important job […]. A job that needs a very special man to...

Bruno's dad is one of those characters whose presence looms throughout the text, despite the fact that on a page-to-page basis he's a pretty minor character. After all, it's his promotion that the...

Grandmother and GrandfatherThese are the two people Bruno misses the most from Berlin. His grandfather owns a restaurant and his grandmother was once a popular singer. More importantly than their a...