Family Quotes in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"A home is not a building or a street or a city or something so artificial as bricks and mortar a home is where one's family is, isn't that right?" (5.246)

Bruno's father asks him this poignant question when Bruno says that he wants to leave their new house and go back to Berlin. Thing is, though, Bruno's father is hardly ever at home, his mother's often unconscious, and Gretel wants nothing to do with her little brother. So, yeah—not the strongest argument in defense of the Auschwitz house, Dad.

Quote #5

"And I have listened to what you have to say, even though your youth and inexperience force you to phrase things in an insolent manner." (5. 274)

After Bruno pleads his case for leaving Auschwitz, his dad reacts to him as if he were just another soldier. Guess he's not too sympathetic to the fact that his son is nine and has no other children to play with. Parents just don't understand…

Quote #6

"You're part of the family, aren't you?" (6.303)

Bruno asks Maria this after she refuses to give her opinion about the move to Auschwitz. It's a pretty empathetic statement to come from a kid—he doesn't view the maid as merely a worker or a servant, but instead sees her as a person who forms part of his family unit.