The novel seems to communicate the need for Germany to accept its guilt before it can move on. However, she is humanized when she finally admits guilt and feels haunted by the victims of the holocaust. During her trial, Hanna blames her orders to guard the prisoners for making her unable to unlock the burning church. The younger generation blames the older one to absolve itself from guilt. Guilt attracts the need to put the blame on someone. This situation represents the need for the Germans to face the past in order to recover (Schlink 18).Īnother theme represented in the novel is blame. He then suffers a fever that frees him from the numbness. The numbness felt by Michael and the rest in the trial is a representation of ordinary Germans trying to distance themselves from the actions of the previous generation. Michael and Hanna represent the two different generations. The guilt is faced by both the wartime generation and the post-war age group. War guilt is an idea that is very prevalent in the novel. The showering is emphasized to bring out the theme of guilt. Their schedule has been ritualized into making love, showering, and reading. However, her sense of subconscious guilt is shown through her constant need to do washing and cleaning. Throughout the novel, Hanna seems to have no guilt over any of her actions in general and particularly towards Michael. Guilt is also shown after Hanna’s death when Michael feels tormented by thoughts of having denied her. He feels like it is him who drove her away. He is guilty for acting as if he did not recognize her at the pool. An instance where guilt is portrayed is when Hanna quits her job and leaves without informing Michael. One of the themes depicted in the novel is guilt. Michael then donates money in Hanna’s name to the Jewish League Against Illiteracy before visiting her grave for the first and last time. On her last night in prison, she hangs herself in her cell. He secures a job and an apartment for her, although he does not directly communicate with her. Years later, he is informed of her upcoming release since he is her only contact to the outside world. Sometimes, he receives a thank you note from her. When in prison, Michael reads books on tape-record and sends them to Hanna. He is faced with the dilemma of exposing her illiteracy to reduce her sentence (Schlink 215). Finally, Michael comes to the realization that Hanna is illiterate and that she is going to great lengths to hide it. Hanna admits to filing a report that she had denied working on it before. She bewilders people in the court for her constant self-incrimination. He is astonished to find Hanna being on trial for killing prisoners in a fire as an SS guard. In an academic seminar, he is tasked with hearing criminal cases from the Nazi regime. Rather, he prefers to become a researcher of legal history. Michael studies law, but does not get into practice. He spends years meditating about the life he lived when he was with her, although the memories fade with time (Schlink 192). This move leaves him with feelings of guilt, wondering whether he drove her away. Hanna then leaves and quits her job without telling Michael. Instead, he turns to the other side, only to find her gone. His group of friends mostly meets at the pool where Hanna appears one afternoon. He feels guilty of not introducing Hanna to his friends. He begins to spend more time with friends and other girls just like a typical teenage boy. She finds out about his missing school and becomes very agitated, insisting that he has to attend all his classes.Īs much as Michael loves Hanna, she does not love him back. He starts to skip classes to make love to Hanna. With his innocence gone, Michael finds it hard to stay away from her. They begin a ritual of making love, showering, and reading books. This scenario marks the beginning of an affair. He later returns to her apartment to thank her. He meets Hanna Schmitz who is more than double his age. Michael Berg is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in west Germany in 1958. This paper examines the novel, the different themes, and literary elements found in it. The final part of the story depicts Michael sending audio correspondence to Hanna, despite the fact that she could not read it. These circumstances are not ideal for the couple. The second part is where they meet again during Hanna’s trial. The affiliation ends because of the abrupt departure of Hanna. The first section addresses Michael and Hanna’s meeting together with the affair that developed between them. The relationship between the two characters is a depiction of the connection between the wartime generation and the post-war generation. The masterpiece is set in the 1950s, shortly after the Second World War. Authored by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader is a captivating novel that captures an affair between Michael, a 15-year-old, and Hanna who was more than twenty years old.
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