Boy in the Striped PJ's Chapter 4

1. (pg 31) How does the author continue to use juxtaposition in regards to the two housing situations? (the Jews and Bruno's family) He uses Juxtaposition by describing the two houses in order; first the author talks about the house and garden that Bruno and Gretel are in, then he talks about the area/place beyond it where there is a large barbed wire fence bigger than the house and many wooden posts that stood taller than the fence. Juxtaposition is enhanced by the alliterated descriptions given to help describe what is being compared. 
2. What is it about the children that makes it difficult to understand exactly what they see through the window and just how bad it is? What it is about the children that makes it difficult to understand exactly what they see through the window is their ignorance. 
3. Summarise how Gretel describes what she sees. Gretel describes what she sees as colourless spit of land with many squared buildings and huts and a huge fence that goes around the whole thing; it's higher than the buildings and longer than she can see. 
4. What does Gretel attempt to do when she sees the Concentration Camp? How does she attempt to understand what she sees? Gretel attempts to describe what she sees try to give it some form of definition. However, all she can do is stare as she is lost for words. Eventually however, she comes to the conclusion that this is a farm because her life is so sheltered she has never seen a farm before and may not know what she is looking at. 
5. Is her attempt successful? Does she convince Bruno that she understands? What does she eventually give in to? What does she say/or not say? (pg 32) Her attempt isn't successful to interpret what she sees and she does not convince Bruno that she understands what is before them either. Her eventual hypothesis is that they're in the countryside because there are people working and there isn't many buildings like in the city. What she doesn't understand and what makes her attempt to understand unsuccessful is her knowledge of country life. They don't live like prisoners and their work is significantly different to that of a Jewish prisoner
6. What can't the children do when they see the Concentration Camp that the adults seem to be able to do? Which group can understand what they see? Why do you think that this is the case?  The children can't make sense of it. The group that can understand what they see is other children in the camp, as if it Bruno's and Gretel's hypotheses' are to make sense, there shouldn't be children in the camp. As the children can't comprehend what's happening they remain ignorant. Their mother, however, does know what a concentration camp is and to help her comprehend  everything, she drinks. Other adults talk themselves up so they don't think it's so bad e.g. a soldier would say 'I killed this man because it was best for my country,' etc
7. How does the author use understatement through the children's description of the Concentration Camp? The author uses understatement by letting the children create a peaceful image of the people in the camp: farmers. Whilst the idea doesn't stick, it's significantly lesser in trauma and pain than Auschwitz. Bruno and Gretel also know that it's their dad's work so they think it is kind of peaceful and in some kind of way their dad is being nice to these people as they can't comprehend or understand that he's a Nazi war general as they are relatively ignorant to the war going on.