The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is described on the title page as "a fable," a characterization Boyne has said he chose in order to explain some of the story's unrealistic aspects. In interviews, the author stresses that rather than being a historical novel about Auschwitz, the book is meant to be a universal story about any concentration camp in World War II, since so many children were victimized during that time. He gives this as the reason the name "Auschwitz" never appears in the novel; rather, the reader only gets Bruno's mishearing of the name, "Out With."