This portion of the novel was
interesting but in my opinion, a boring read. I am not sure how that makes
sense, but I am sure many others would agree. I think the trial was too long
and the constant thought processing over and over again was a drag.
This portion delves into the Hanna and
Michael relationship and explains much of it too. On the emotional level, Michael
considered Hanna his first love, but probably for the wrong reasons simply
because he was young, ignorant, and therefore vulnerable to an older woman. In
the trial, Hanna is revealed as a Nazi prison camp guard. She clearly possesses
some feeling of authority because she plays this role, and this was practiced
on Michael. Another thing that was explained is the fact that in the first
part, she was sometimes in vulnerable state despite her being normally direct
and confident with Michael. This occurred when she cried after she thought he
abandoned her, and also when she really wanted him to read to her. We find out
that she is illiterate, which explains why she found so much enjoyment in his
reading to her. Obviously she is not educated, so it may be safe to assume that
she did not grow up in a functional way, which may be why she seeks attention
of younger, “weaker” kids that she can take advantage of. It would be interesting
to know even more about her past. I understand why the author put so much
emphasis on the fact that Michael was “sick.” Overall, taking advantage of
younger kids for sexual purposes is a mind game. Picking the weak is a part of
that, and Hanna was clearly always around the weak in the past. That is why
Michael was an easy target and why she picked him out to be that target.
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