Skip to main content

Why does Lieutenant Kotler behave as he does towards Pavel in Chapter 7 of John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

Lieutenant Kotler is thoroughly indoctrinated in the ideology of Nazism; therefore, he speaks in an abusive manner to Pavel, who is one of the Jews contained at the concentration camp in Auschwitz.


When Bruno decides that his friends from Berlin will not be coming to visit him, he feels that he will just have to entertain himself; so, he decides he can have some fun by swinging in a tire. Seeing Lt. Kotler who is...

Lieutenant Kotler is thoroughly indoctrinated in the ideology of Nazism; therefore, he speaks in an abusive manner to Pavel, who is one of the Jews contained at the concentration camp in Auschwitz.


When Bruno decides that his friends from Berlin will not be coming to visit him, he feels that he will just have to entertain himself; so, he decides he can have some fun by swinging in a tire. Seeing Lt. Kotler who is talking with his sister Gretel, Bruno approaches him in order to ask the young officer if there are any spare tires around the place that he may have. After joking about another soldier who is wearing a spare tire, Kotler notices Pavel heading toward the house, and calls out to him, using a pejorative term for "Jew" when he does,



"Hey you! ...Come over here, you ----"



Speaking to Pavel insolently when the much older man nears him, Kotler orders Pavel to take Bruno to the storage shed behind the main house and let the boy pick out an old tire and carry it back for him. After he has done so, Kotler tells Pavel, he is to return to the house and be certain that he thoroughly washes his hands "before touching any of the food, you filthy ------." Again Kotler says this pejorative term that makes Bruno look away and be ashamed to be associated with Lt. Kotler.


Lt. Kotler is representative of the Nazi belief that the Jew is "a deformity on the body politic." In reality, the Jews became the scapegoat for the economic problems of Germany after World War I and were rounded up and treated most inhumanely:



In Germany, Hitler used the Jewish people as a scapegoat for all of Germany's problems. With disproportional numbers of wealthy Jewish business owners, Hitler convinced much of Germany that the Jews were to blame for the poor economic state.


[http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/1920s/Econ20s.htm]


Popular posts from this blog

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...

How did the United States become an imperial power?

"Imperial power" is a bit of a vague label. It tends to mean several things at once, so let's unpack it. In the sense of "this country was built on conquest by force," the "imperial power" part of America actually predates the United States proper. The territories that would become the United States were imperial colonies, established by the great European empires of the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the US Constitution and American governance generally goes back to England, history's largest and most successful imperial power, but vital aspects of American culture come from other imperial powers, such as France and Spain. Much of American culture comes from sources other than the old empires, but they were key influences on what the United States became. In the sense of "this country treats conquest by force as a fundamental component of its culture, economy and politics," the United States has always been an imperial power. Even earl...

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...