Themes and message

Social exclusion

The text “The German Boy” by Ron Butlin deals extensively with the social exclusion of Klaus, a German boy who recently moved to England. Since Klaus is from Germany, he is immediately viewed as a foreigner and, therefore, different from the rest. The first time the narrator sees Klaus, he describes him as follows: “(…) it was quite obvious he was not like the rest of us: Klaus looked different, he talked different and, even though he wore the same clothes as us, somehow he seemed to be dressed differently” (p. 91, ll. 29-32). He is viewed as strange and unfamiliar. This is because the British children in the classroom are not familiar with German culture, just like Klaus is not acquainted with British culture. The headmaster has to point out the geographical location of Germany on a map, and he informs the children about the German name of Klaus’ homeland (p. 93, ll. 1-3). Klaus has a negative reaction to this new environment: “Everyone looked at him and he looked at the floor” (p. 91, ll. 32-33).

Furthermore, Klaus’ social exclusion is also caused by his social class. The narrator’s aunt observes that Klaus is a “different class to the rest of the boys” (p. 92, l. 13). This could mean that Klaus comes from a poorer family, since the narrator comes from a wealthy family (p. 93, l. 20) and the other children in his classroom were also of the same class as the narrator (p. 92, ll. 9-10).  Moreover, Klaus seems to be from East Germany, a country with a communist government, and this could be part of the reason why Klaus is rejected and is considered “ ...