Hi Everyone!! This article will share Across the Fence Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Vet Makes an Impression, The Adventure of Speckled Band and Whose Place Is It Anyway so, you can check these posts as well.
Across the Fence Questions & Answers
Question 1: Where were Bruno and Shmuel going? What was different about their reasons for going there?
Answer: They were going towards the camp. Shmuel wanted to go there to find his missing father while Bruno wished to be an explorer.
Question 2: “It was almost, Shmuel thought as if they were all exactly the same really.” Why did Shmuel think that he and Bruno were only ‘almost’ alike?
Answer: Shmuel thought that both were alike because they both wore the same outfit.
Question 3: Why was it important for Bruno to change his clothes before entering the other side of the fence?
Answer: Everyone in the camp had been given a uniform – a striped pyjama set with a striped cap for the head. Bruno had to look like one among them so that he could help his friend without being recognised. If caught, more than Bruno, his friend Shmuel would get into trouble.
Question 4: Read the line and answer the questions.
‘For the first time, he wasn’t sitting cross legged……against the fence’.
a. Why was Shmuel waiting?
Answer: Shmuel was waiting for his friend Bruno.
b. Why was he standing, unlike before?
Answer: He was about to take Bruno across the fence so he was standing unlike before.
c. What had he brought for Bruno?
Answer: He had brought a pair of striped pyjama bottoms, a striped pyjama top and a striped cloth cap.
Question 5: Read the lines and answer the questions.
“Well, turn round,” said Bruno pointing at his friend as he stood there awkwardly. “I don’t want you watching me.”
a. Where was Bruno?
Answer: Bruno was near the fence which was in between his friend Shmuel and himself.
b. Why did he not want his friend to see him?
Answer: He did not want his friend to see him because he was changing his clothes.
c. Why did Bruno have to change?
Answer: Bruno was about to enter the other side of the fence. He needed to look like the people on the other side of the fence so that he would not get caught. So, his friend Shmuel who belonged to the other side of the fence brought him striped pyjamas and a striped cap to disguise him.
Across the Fence Questions & Answers
Question 6: Why did the costume Bruno wore, bring back memories of his grandmother? Was he aware that he was stepping into danger after wearing the costume?
Answer: The moment he disguised himself to look like his friend Shmuel, Bruno was reminded of his grandmother. She was very particular about the right kind of costume the children wore when she put up plays with Gretel and Bruno. Bruno recalled her words when she said, “You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be…” Here Bruno was pretending to be someone without realising that this would lead him to great danger. Totally unaware of the plight of the people on the other side of fence, where Jews were killed indiscriminately, Bruno was happily dressed like a Jew looking forward to experience an adventure across the fence.
Question 7: Why did Bruno want to help Shmuel?
Answer: Bruno, a young Nazi boy had no clue that the other side of the fence represented the terrible work of the Holocaust. He offered to help his friend Shmuel, a Jew, to find his father, not really out of any interest to find Shmeul’s father, but to explore the world on the other side of the fence. By doing this, Bruno was trying to realise his dream of becoming an explorer.
Question 8: What did Bruno witness when he entered the other side of the fence? How did it affect him?
Answer: Bruno excitedly entered the place from under the fence, hoping to explore the world which his father had forbidden him from entering. Initially, he felt wonderful and proud as he imagined he was an explorer. He hoped to discover something new in this forbidden world. Soon Bruno could see soldiers everywhere, shouting and ordering people who seemed very frightened and helpless. The soldiers were revelling and having fun torturing the innocent people in striped pyjamas. Bruno could distinctly see two different types of people – either happy, laughing, shouting soldiers in their uniforms, or unhappy, crying people in their striped pyjamas. Bruno felt uneasy, expressed his displeasure to his friend and wanted to go home quickly.
Question 9: Why did both Shmuel and Bruno not hug each other though they really wanted to?
Answer: They probably were unaccustomed to being on the same side of the fence till then. They were really happy and thrilled to see each other so close but perhaps they were so overwhelmed with what was really happening to them that neither of them could take the initiative to hug or thank the other.
Question 10: Why do you think Bruno enjoyed walking barefoot and dirtying himself while crossing to the other side of the fence?
Answer: Bruno was a young boy and his father was a Commandant with Auschwitz. He must have been living a life with high security where he perhaps had not been exposed much to the outside life which children usually love. Hence, though he was initially appalled at the exposure, he soon started loving his freedom. He also must have felt that this was required to realise his dream of becoming an explorer.
Question 11: Read the lines and answer the questions.
‘What’s happening?’ whispered Bruno. ‘What’s going on?’
a. What made Bruno remark so?
Answer: Bruno suddenly saw some ten soldiers surrounding the area where Bruno and Shmuel were standing.
b. What was Shmuel’s reply?
Answer: Shmuel informed him that the soldiers made people go on marches and that this was one such.
c. How did Bruno react to it?
Answer: Bruno was shocked to hear that and said he would not go on a march. He expressed his desire to reach home in time for dinner.
Question 12: Read the line and answer the questions.
“They make people go on marches”.
a. What is Shmuel talking about?
Answer: Shmuel is talking about how the soldiers escort batches of prisoners to begin marches to a destination he is not aware of.
b. How does Bruno react to this?
Answer: Bruno does not want to go on a march. He wants to return to home.
c. Where did the march lead the boys?
Answer: The march led the boys into a long room which was completely airtight.
Question 13: Did Bruno and Shmuel find what they were looking for? How did they feel about it?
Answer: No, Bruno and Shmuel were unable to find. They felt sad about it.
So, these were Across the Fence Questions & Answers.