The Reader: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Reader: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex relationships and moral dilemmas faced by the key figures in the narrative. Central to the story is Michael Berg, a middle-class teenager in post–World War II Germany who engages in a passionate yet complicated affair with Hanna Schmitz, a much older woman. Their relationship is marked by Hanna's enjoyment of Michael reading to her, juxtaposed with her sudden disappearance from his life. Years later, Michael, now a law student, confronts Hanna's dark past as a concentration camp guard, leading to a profound exploration of guilt and responsibility.
Hanna's character is multifaceted; she grapples with her illiteracy and its implications for her actions during the war, revealing a woman caught between denial and acceptance of her past. The story also features Mr. Berg, Michael's father, whose philosophical views are shaped by his own experiences during the Nazi regime, and Sophie, a peer who represents a different path for Michael but lacks emotional depth in their connection. The narrative further includes Gertrude Berg, Michael's eventual wife, and a survivor whose testimony plays a crucial role in Hanna's trial.
As these characters navigate their intertwined fates, the themes of guilt, identity, and the burden of history are poignantly examined, offering a rich ground for reflection on the human condition and the complexities of moral judgment.
The Reader: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Bernhard Schlink
Alternate Title: Der Vorleser
First published: 1995 (English translation, 1997)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Germany
Plot: Coming of age story; detective story; fictional memoir
Time: 1922–1980s
Michael Berg, a middle-class teenager in post–World War II Germany who eventually becomes a legal scholar. A literate, studious, and conscientious adolescent, Michael accidentally becomes involved in a love affair with an attractive older woman, Hanna Schmitz, who enjoys having sex with him but also enjoys having him read to her. When she suddenly disappears from his life, he at first blames himself but then moves on, only to discover later, as a law student, that she is on trial for crimes she allegedly committed as a concentration camp guard during the Nazi period. Fascinated and troubled by the complexity both of her life and of the trial, Michael suddenly realizes that she has always been illiterate and that this fact explains much of her seemingly inexplicable behavior, particularly during the trial. Pondering his relationship with Hanna, Michael feels many kinds of guilt. After she is convicted, however, he finds himself feeling conflicted about the issues the trial has raised. He moves on with his life, although he has trouble establishing lasting relationships with other women. During Hanna's eighth year in prison, he decides to begin reading books aloud and taping his readings to send to her, which he then continues to do for another decade. He makes no other effort, however, to reestablish close contact. Ultimately, he does meet with the aged Hanna in prison. She has learned to read and write, thanks in part to his tapes. When he discovers that she is eligible for release, he tries to help prepare a life for her on the outside. Just before she is due to be freed, however, she kills herself. Michael, shocked, nevertheless dutifully tries to carry out the instructions she left behind in her will. When the intended recipient of her money refuses it, he donates it to a Jewish literacy charity.
Hanna Schmitz, a relatively poor woman who becomes involved in an affair with the young Michael Berg. Hanna enjoys listening to Michael read to her, but her treatment of him is alternately tender and brusque. Suddenly she disappears from his life, only to reappear years later when he, now a law student, discovers that she was once a guard at a wartime Nazi concentration camp. One of a number of guards accused of leaving three hundred Jewish women to die locked in a burning church, Hanna responds inconsistently to the allegations—sometimes accepting guilt, sometimes denying it—but ultimately accepts responsibility for having written a document that is key to the case. However, this is a lie; she could not have authored the document because she is illiterate, a fact she has tried to hide for most of her life. Her inability to read and write has shaped practically every aspect of her existence, including her trial, but she refuses to admit this crucial shortcoming. Hanna is convicted, goes to prison, and over the years becomes a model prisoner, learning to read and write from the tapes that Michael sends to her. She writes him letters, although he does not respond. During her years in prison she is haunted by memories of the dead and spends much of her time reading about the Holocaust. Not long before she is due to be released from prison, she hangs herself, leaving instructions in her will about how the money she has accumulated over the years should be disbursed.
Mr. Berg, Michael Berg's father. Mr. Berg was once a philosophy teacher but lost his position during the Nazi period for planning to lecture on a Jewish philosopher. Although the relationship between the father and son is not especially close, Michael at a crucial point turns to his father for advice about a moral dilemma he faces.
Mrs. Berg, Michael's mother. Her instructions that he should thank a woman who spontaneously helped him when he became sick in the street leads to his affair with that woman: Hanna Schmitz.
Sophie, a girl of Michael Berg's age to whom he begins to become attracted. Her friendship with him causes him to drift away from Hanna. However, though her relationship with Michael becomes sexual eventually, they are never emotionally close.
Gertrude Berg, the woman Michael marries in the period following the trial. They have a daughter, but by the time the little girl is five the marriage ends in divorce.
The woman from New York, a survivor of the killings for which Hanna is placed on trial. She later writes a book about her experiences as a wartime prisoner. Her testimony helps convict Hanna. Hanna, upon her death, leaves all her money to the woman, but the woman refuses to accept it, telling Michael Berg that he should decide how to dispose of it.