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Gretel
Bruno’s mother is married to Father, a Commandant in the German army. Mother is very loving towards Gretel and Bruno, but becomes stern whenever they ask too many questions or complain about moving to “Out-With.” She refuses to speak with Bruno about the war, and says it is no topic for proper conversation. At Out-With, Mother develops a friendship (and likely an affair) with Lieutenant Kotler—seemingly an act of rebellion against Father, who essentially controls her life. Eventually, Mother convinces Father to let the family move back to Berlin, though she stays for a time to see if Bruno will return.
Mother Quotes in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The The Boy in the Striped Pajamas quotes below are all either spoken by Mother or refer to Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
“It’s a very important job,” said Mother, hesitating for a moment. “A job that needs a very special man to do it. You can understand that, can’t you?”
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Chapter 2
Quotes
“We don’t have the luxury of thinking,” said Mother. “…Some people make all the decisions for us.”
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Chapter 13
Quotes
What happened then was both unexpected and extremely unpleasant. Lieutenant Kotler grew very angry with Pavel and no one—not Bruno, not Gretel, not Mother and not even Father—stepped in to stop him doing what he did next, even though none of them could watch. Even though it made Bruno cry and Gretel grow pale.
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Chapter 17
Quotes
He paused for a moment and looked out the window to his left—the window that led off to a view of the camp on the other side of the fence. “When I think about it, perhaps she is right. Perhaps this is not a place for children.”
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Mother Quotes in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The The Boy in the Striped Pajamas quotes below are all either spoken by Mother or refer to Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
“It’s a very important job,” said Mother, hesitating for a moment. “A job that needs a very special man to do it. You can understand that, can’t you?”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
“We don’t have the luxury of thinking,” said Mother. “…Some people make all the decisions for us.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13
Quotes
What happened then was both unexpected and extremely unpleasant. Lieutenant Kotler grew very angry with Pavel and no one—not Bruno, not Gretel, not Mother and not even Father—stepped in to stop him doing what he did next, even though none of them could watch. Even though it made Bruno cry and Gretel grow pale.
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Chapter 17
Quotes
He paused for a moment and looked out the window to his left—the window that led off to a view of the camp on the other side of the fence. “When I think about it, perhaps she is right. Perhaps this is not a place for children.”
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