Bruno is nine years old and his sister, whom he calls a "Hopeless Case", three years older. Bruno does not know what kind of job his father is doing, but during the course of the book, he always points out that he is sure that his father is a good man who would never do anything wrong or unethical.
Moving into a solitary house which appears to be miles away from "civilization", Bruno is not sure what to think about his new home. He starts calling it "Out-With". This name reflects how Bruno is feeling: lonely and far away from other children to play with thus missing his friends from Berlin.
