Bruno's Voice, introduction of characters, and victims

• Describe Bruno's voice. Give examples to support.

He speaks very formally and politely. He already has a sense of innocence. 

‘Mother,’ he insisted. ‘What’s going on? Are we moving?

• What characters are introduced? Describe each and give examples to support.

Bruno. He is a polite boy who is introduced as the main character. At the start of the book he seems very Innocent.  ‘Mother,’ he insisted. ‘What’s going on? Are we moving?


Maria. She is the maid who is packing Bruno's bag. 'he was 
surprised to find Maria, the family’s maid – who always kept 
her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet – standing 
in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe 
and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things 
he’d hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody’s 
else’s business.'


Bruno's mum is a tall women with long red hair. She is frustrated at the fact they have to move.  'She sighed and threw her hands in the air in frustration before marching back to the staircase' She is the parenting one. She tells Bruno to be polite. 'his mother had 
always told him that he was to treat Maria respectfully and not just imitate the way Father spoke to her.'


Bruno's dad. You don't hear much about him. His dad seems to be the strict one as Bruno's mum tells him to speak to Maria respectively unlike the way his father does. ‘You take your hands off my things.’ Bruno speaks this way to Maria instead of being polite, and you can see part of his father's method for speaking to the maid show


Lars the butler. Lars being there packing Bruno's mother


Gretel Bruno's sister

• Who are presented as victims in this chapter and what are the victims of? Do you think that it is fair to consider them victims?

The victim is Bruno. He is a victim as he is forced to move houses and start a new life. He has no say in the matter. His mother is also a victim for the same reason. Yes it is fair to consider them a victim as they have no power and no say in anything.

• Irony is an important element of the story. How is it used here in the first chapter? Give examples to support your answer.

Bruno calls Hitler the Fury. This is ironic as Fury is a better name than for Hitler than the Führer.

The whole chapter is layered with dramatic irony as we know more about what is happening than Bruno does. 

• How is the setting presented in this chapter?

The setting of this chapter is in Bruno's house. Everyone is uptight over leaving and through Bruno we feel his frustration and confusion as he doesn't know what is happening but there is some dramatic irony in this. We have some idea that his father is very high up in Hitlers circle and that they are moving near some thing important to Hitler's plan.