Part Three of Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader was arguably better than Part
Two. I still feel indifferent about the entire book, but this final Part
brought closure to Michael Berg, and even the reader. I continued to have an
issue feeling an ounce of sympathy for Hanna, given her dirty background. My
problem with the story lies in the fact that Michael Berg returned to once
again love her, even after understanding her criminal past. While I can’t seem
to understand why he refuses to let her go, even recording countless hours of
audio books, after witnessing her trial, where she confessed to awful crimes
against humanity, I think that his entire heartache can be attributed to the
trauma he received as a result of being in such an intimate relationship at such
a young age, especially since she took his virginity.
I actually aligned myself with the
way the survivor of the fire responded to Hanna’s will. I do not think that
she, nor any other Nazi, deserves a sliver of redemption for the atrocities
they committed behind those fences. I was content seeing that the money that
was left behind was donated to a Jewish charity. That was the only appropriate
way to deal with it. That being said, I imagine that Michael Berg felt snubbed
that after waiting 18 years of reading to her in prison, she killed herself on
the last day without a formal goodbye. What a heartless, cowardly way to handle
her past. That’s just it though, all she ever was, was a coward. She brought
Jewish prisoners to read to her before sending them to their death for the
obvious reasons, yet also so that het secret would not be revealed. She was
cowardly even when she “said goodbye” to Michael Berg the first time, on the
pool deck.
The
Reader proved to be a powerful story, yet one without a clear theme. Even
at the end of the book, I am merely indifferent about it.
Ryan
Pearson
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