"The Reader"‚ by Bernhard Schlink is set in postwar Germany and tells the story of fifteen-year-old Michael Berg and his affair with a woman named Hanna‚ who was twice his age. After some time‚ she disappears. When Michael next sees Hanna‚ he is a young law student and she is on trial for her work in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Their feelings of guilt and shame lead to Hanna’s tragic death near the end of the story. Bernhard Schlink is trying to portray these two emotions in his book as things
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sets. Expecting to grow properly and learn what one must when put in an unfamiliar generation‚ is as if trying to teach a person to walk through the example of a whale-both are mammals but are impossible to compare. This is evident in Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader‚ where fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is involved in a secretive‚ intense‚ and passionate relationship with thirty-six-year-old Hanna Schmitz. Hanna is leading the relationship so much so that when they fight‚ regardless of who is right
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"Leaving was her punishment." Throughout "The Reader" the relationship between Hanna and Michael changes. In Part 1 their relationship begins and develops into a very sexual and personal affair. He blames himself for her leaving him. In Part 2 it turns political and they are very separated throughout the trail‚ Michael also learns about the truth about Hanna. In Part 3 Hanna kills herself because she can’t face Michael because of what she has done. Part one is where they first meet. When Michael
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The Reader Bernhard Schlink Themes War Guilt One of the main ideas in The Reader is German war guilt - guilt felt by both the war-time generation and the post-war generation. The post-war generation‚ to which the author‚ Schlink‚ belongs‚ has struggled to come to terms with the war crimes committed by the previous generation. The novel begins with a sick Michael being comforted by the maternal Hanna. This is an obvious symbol for the idea that the post-war generation needs to confront the deeds
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How does the writer explore the themes of tolerance and empathy in chapters 2 and 3? In chapter 2 Miss Caroline is introduced. She has come across as a very sweet and innocent lady. “She had bright auburn hair‚ pink cheeks and wore crimson finger- nail polish. She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop”. This quote highlights her innocence and exaggerates the difference between Miss Caroline‚ who is very clean-cut‚ to the rest of Maycomb‚ which is less educated and poor. Miss Caroline states that
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Response To “The Reader” To what extent does Schlink in his novel “The Reader”‚ show that it is impossible to escape one’s past. In his novel “The Reader”‚ author Bernhard Schlink through the use of techniques such as structure‚ setting and characterisation reveals to an immense extent that it is impossible to escape one’s past. Schlink utilises the main protagonists of the text‚ Michael and Hanna‚ depicting their relationship‚ along with the idea of post war German guilt to further represent
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movies is guilt‚ whether criminal‚ political‚ moral‚ or metaphysical. This guilt concerning the Holocaust was discussed in terms of different groups of people‚ including the offenders‚ bystanders‚ or future generations of Germans. In Schlink’s The Reader (1995)‚ for instance‚ guilt is an integral topic for the book’s main characters and they wrestle with it decades after the Holocaust. However‚ in non-fictional accounts from survivors‚ I do not think that their intent is to discuss or imply guilt‚ as some
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How does Steinbeck explore the theme of loneliness in “Of Mice and Men” In “Of Mice and Men”‚ the theme of loneliness is central to the novel. It is introduced to the reader at the very start of the novel i.e. the first time that we see George and Lennie they are walking apart – “they had walked in single file down the path and even in the open one stayed behind the other”. Throughout the novel we see that everyone is lonely and it seems that the description of George and Lennie at the start of
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Setting is a very important factor to consider when analyzing literature. It plays a very large role in the development of literature. Setting even has the ability to shape the theme of the story. Throughout this essay I will be discussing how setting shapes various themes in the poems “The journey of the magi”‚ “The darkling thrush”‚ and “the road not taken” The poem‚ “The journey of the magi” by T.S. elliot is an excellent example of the setting of a poem shaping its theme. The setting
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The characters in this play seek flight – How does Williams explore the themes of entrapment and flight? Tennessee Williams explores the theme of entrapment and flight through symbolism and motifs that depict a want for escape‚ relationships that portray entrapment of each other and conventions of a play‚ such as scenery‚ stage directions‚ narrative and dialogue that heighten these ideas as a whole. The opening scene sketches out the scenery and initial symbol of entrapment for all the characters
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