The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Chapters 5–8

by John Boyne
In this novel, a boy imprisoned in a concentration camp and the son of a Nazi commandant develop an unlikely friendship.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–12, Chapters 13–16, Chapters 17–20
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. efficiency
    skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort
    ‘And efficiency. We have lacked efficiency since the start of ’forty-two and without that...’
  2. ergo
    (used as a sentence connector) therefore or consequently
    ‘And our family is here, Bruno. At Out-With. Ergo, this must be our home.’
    Bruno didn’t understand what ergo meant, but he didn’t need to because he had a clever answer for Father.
  3. significance
    the quality of being important
    ‘You don’t understand the significance of such a position,’ Father said.
  4. insolent
    marked by casual disrespect
    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. pension
    regular payment to allow a person to subsist without working
    And after your grandmother retired, of course my mother stayed friendly with her and received a small pension, but times were hard then and your father offered me a job, the first I had ever had.
  6. obliged
    having a moral duty to do something
    A few months later my mother became very sick and she needed a lot of hospital care and your father arranged it all, even though he was not obliged to.
  7. campaign
    a series of actions tending toward a particular end
    He had hoped that Maria would take his side in the campaign to get away from Out-With but he could see where her loyalties really lay.
  8. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    The noise of a door slamming came from downstairs and reverberated through the house so loudly — like a gunshot — that Bruno jumped and Maria let out a small scream.
  9. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    ‘I’m not allowed to say what I feel?’ he repeated, incredulous.
  10. frenzied
    excessively agitated
    There was something in her eyes, a sort of frenzied worry, that he had never seen there before and that unsettled him.
  11. escapade
    a wild and exciting undertaking
    ‘You shouldn’t laugh at poor Herr Roller,’ Mother had told him one afternoon when he had related the story of his latest escapade.
  12. diversion
    an activity that amuses or stimulates
    To keep himself entertained Bruno spent a long Saturday morning and afternoon creating a new diversion for himself.
  13. astonished
    filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise
    Bruno felt astonished that he could have anything in common with him (and even more surprised to learn that Lieutenant Kotler had ever had friends).
  14. coincide
    happen simultaneously
    Parties at Bruno’s house were always dominated by Grandmother’s singing, which for some reason always seemed to coincide with the moment when Mother moved from the main party area to the kitchen, followed by some of her own friends.
  15. reclaim
    reassert one's right or title to
    It makes me so proud to see you elevated to such a responsible position. Helping your country reclaim her pride after all the great wrongs that were done to her.
Created on Tue May 17 11:48:38 EDT 2016 (updated Tue Jun 24 16:16:50 EDT 2025)

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