Nationalism Theme Analysis

During World War II, the Nazi Party, which gained control of Germany, operated on the idea that ethnic Germans were superior to the rest of the world, particularly the Jewish population in Europe at the time. Nazi rhetoric and propaganda operated heavily on the idea of the “other”—emphasizing an “us vs. them” division, and demonizing and dehumanizing “them.” In practice this meant attempting to prove, using pseudoscience, the Bible, nationalism, and scare tactics, that Jews were an inferior race that needed to be “exterminated” to solve Germany’s problems. Adolf Hitler’s government created concentration camps in which to ruthlessly kill Jews, resulting in the death of over six million people. The Nazis also imprisoned and killed up to five million others—including Romani people, gay people, the mentally disabled, and other minorities—all in the pursuit of creating a nation of idealized “Aryan Germans,” the most perfect of which were believed to be blond-haired, blue-eyed Christians by faith and by blood.

Though Bruno, due to his age and isolation, understands very little about the political situation of Germany when his family moves from Berlin to “Out-With,” his tutor and his Father have still indoctrinated him to an extent to believe in the superiority of Germany and its right to rule. When Shmuel tells Bruno that he is from Poland, Bruno’s immediate response is that Germany is superior to Poland, simply because Germany is better than any other country in the world. Lieutenant Kotler, with his striking blond hair, good looks, and cruelty towards Jews, is meant to represent Hitler’s ideal Aryan man. However, when it is revealed that Kotler’s father fled for Switzerland, which was “neutral” territory during World War II, Father dismisses Kotler from his roles at Auschwitz. This represents the instability inherent in the philosophy of the Nazis—when anyone can become the “other” and be demonized as unpatriotic or even subhuman, people will eventually turn on each other with paranoia and a mob mentality. The Nazi Party ultimately collapsed and was defeated at the end of World War II.

The nationalism displayed by Bruno’s father and his sister Gretel is not universal to all the Germans in the book. Father’s militant nationalism creates a rift in his family before they leave Berlin—his mother, Bruno’s Grandmother, objects to Father’s new position as head of Auschwitz, and denounces his role in the Nazi Party. She then dies while the family is still in Poland, before she and her son have a chance to be reconciled. Later in the novel, Mother also refuses to stay at “Out-With,” saying the assignment is Father’s and not hers. Even Maria expresses her distaste for what Father orchestrates at the camp, but she still expresses gratitude for her job and the fact that Father took her in after her mother died, as Maria’s mother had worked closely with Bruno’s Grandmother for many years.

Bruno has a difficult time understanding exactly what his father does, and why it is so important to “correct” the history of Germany. He, like some other characters, also has a difficult time reconciling how men such as Father and Lieutenant Kotler act in their personal, day-to-day lives, and the horrors they inflict on the prisoners in the name of Germany and the “Fury.” Bruno cannot yet comprehend that the militant and unequivocal idea of German superiority allows the soldiers and other members of the army to separate their own families and lives from those of the Jews, and thus carry out atrocities while still conducting their own personal lives as normal.

The novel also shows how German nationalism under the Nazi regime began to fail as the war dragged on. This is played out on a personal level through the dysfunction of Bruno’s family (Mother’s affair with Kotler) and the disloyalty of Kotler’s father, who fled to Switzerland. Father himself was first brought to Auschwitz to “correct” the failings of the previous Commandant, showing how unstable policies and beliefs could be within the party itself. When Father realizes that Bruno was killed in a gas chamber in the camp that he commanded, he loses all national pride and even the will to live, and submits himself to punishment (likely a trial, and then execution) when he is arrested by Allied soldiers.