about the fence

I would say the fence is a symbol in the book that divides the world of Shmuel from Bruno. On one side of the fence, Bruno's side, there is fine dining, good wine, and servant's. On Shmuel's side there is only slave labor and unspeakable horror. The fence, however, does not have the power to prevent these two worlds meeting in friendship through the eyes of children not yet tainted by hate and horror.