"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne Trivia Game | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" has sold over 5 million copies. But why is the boy in striped pyjamas?

Answer: In the Jewish camp they wore outfits looking like striped pyjamas

"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" leads us through the life of a 9 year old boy, Bruno, living at Auschwitz, a camp for the Jews during World War II. Living in Berlin prior to that, Bruno's father was a SS officer (highly ranked); after being visited by Adolf Hitler (referred to as 'The Fury' in the novel), he is promoted to Commandant and shifted to Auschwitz as the boss along with his family.

2. Bruno becomes homesick after moving into their new three storied house, with no friends, except the 'hopeless case' sister of his, Gretel. His hobby of exploring becomes a bore as their property is too small. There's nothing to do! Bruno wishes he had his three best friends with him. Who were they?

Answer: Carl, Daniel and Martin

Bruno wishes he could play pretend wars with his friends instead of playing one on one checkers with himself. His father is always busy with military work so Bruno hardly ever sees him. Due to his children's boredom, however, the commandant hires a tutor to educate Gretel and Bruno on the history of the Jews and the pride of Germany.

3. Bruno approaches a soldier (Lieutenant Kotler) one day, asking for a tyre to make a swing. After calling Bruno a 'little man', the soldier yells at an old man and orders him to take Bruno to find a tyre. Who was this trembling man?

Answer: Pavel

Pavel stutters and limps while he directs Bruno to the shed containing tyres. Bruno wonders why the soldier yelled at Pavel so cruelly, Pavel was a nice person towards Bruno. Has he done something wrong? After applying the finishing touches to his swing, Bruno hops on it and tries to stand up.

But he falls, scraping his leg on the grass. Pavel hurries forward to him, helps him inside and bandages Bruno's leg, managing to hush the child despite his pleas of dying. Just then, Bruno's mother walks in, stopping sharply at the sight of the bandage. She asks what happened to Bruno, and he replies that he scraped his leg, but Pavel has fixed it.

As Bruno walks up the stairs to his bedroom he hears his mother telling Pavel that, if anyone asks, she did it.

4. One of Bruno's relatives takes ill and dies about a year after the family left Berlin. Who was it?

Answer: Grandmother

Grandmother was known as a kind women who had skill in the art of acting. Every year she created a play and she, Bruno and Gretel would act it out to Bruno's mother, father and grandfather. However, she loathed her son for becoming commandant and thought his work was cruel.

5. A few months before the family moved to 'Out-With', 'the Fury' had come for dinner. Afterwards, Bruno's parents had an argument. What was it about?

Answer: She didn't want to take the children to live at a concentration camp

She argues that it is no place for children, but he says he has no choice. If he doesn't accept the promotion and take on the new assignment, his career (and possibly even his life) would be over. A few days later, Bruno finds Maria packing his things.

6. Mischievous, Bruno decides to sneak out the back, in an out of bounds area, to go exploring. After trudging along the fence for a long way, he spots something in the distance, on the other side of the fence. What does he discover it as, when he approaches closely?

Answer: A young Jew

This boy, Shmuel, is nine, just like Bruno. A Jewish prisoner, Shmuel looks starved to death, white and bony and very sad as if he has lost something important. They begin to talk, and Bruno learns that Shmuel's father has gone missing.

From that time on, every day they meet at the same spot and talk, soon becoming best friends.

7. As Bruno is walking down the hallway into the lounge one morning, Lieutenant Kotler stops him and questions him on what he is doing. He then plucks a book from Bruno's hands and observes it. What popular book is it?

Answer: Treasure Island

Bruno has a fear of Lieutenant Kotler whom Gretel flirts with. He doesn't stop calling Bruno 'little man' and after the Shmuel incident Bruno hates him. You see, one day Bruno walked into the kitchen to find Shmuel cleaning wine glasses. Shmuel explains to Bruno that they need someone with little fingers to do the job. Bruno then offers Shmuel a bun. Shmuel gulps it down, and is nearly finished biting it when Lieutenant Kotler walks in.

He spots Shmuel chewing and demands to know if Bruno knows him. Nervous and panic stricken Bruno blurts out "I've never seen him before, I walked in and found him stealing". Kotler thanks Bruno for his 'honesty' and tells Shmuel to wait for him to come back so they 'can have a chat about little boys who steal'.

8. Later on the Commandant decides to allow his wife, Bruno and Gretel to move back to Berlin. Bruno debates it, saying that he likes this place now, but he wants to see Shmuel again. Shmuel devises a plan to give Bruno some striped pyjamas (prisoner uniform) so Bruno can enter the camp disguised, and help Shmuel search for his dad who's gone missing. What happens next?

Answer: They are mixed with a crowd of people who march to the gassing chambers to die

They march through pouring rain and thunder towards what they think is a shelter to keep them warm and to stop them from catching a cold. They are shunted inside and the door clangs shut. How nice of them, Bruno thinks. Holes slide open in the roof. That is the last thing that happens in that scene as they are gassed.

9. Who discovers Bruno's original clothes by the fence?

Answer: A stranger not mentioned as a character

In the movie, the clothes are found by his father. After the discovery, the family spends several months searching for Bruno, but with no success - although his father did discover a spot where a small boy could have fit under the fence. In the movie (no information in the book), the Commandant sits everyday from then until the camp is liberated, sitting by the fence where Bruno visited.

10. What country is Shmuel from?

Answer: Poland

And that concludes my quiz! I hope you enjoyed it and remember to watch the movie if you haven't already.

Source: Author regandavey

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne Quiz

Hello! Here's another of my quizzes, this time on literature. Enjoy!

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