The first part
of The Reader is vivid as the
narrator describes his encounters with Hanna. Michael is clearly a boy who has
gone through a lot for his age and shows this with his confidence and
character. Yet in the end he ends up returning to a self that is weak and
unable to make the important decisions. Instead of continuing to make life happen
to himself at the end of this first act, he lets life take control over him,
even though he has now gained the tools to know what to do.
I find this strange that we slowly see the
narrator grow and blossom into what seems to be a strong, emboldened young man,
to see him back as the weak and feeble child that he was at the very beginning.
But it is this sickness that he has incurred at the very beginning of the novel
that ties everything together in this section of the novel. The hepatitis, beyond
a doubt, is the reason he and Hanna become lovers. It is the first instance
where he shows that he truly acts on life, and while weak and feeble, is guided
into this enduring relationship. Hanna teaches him how to be and makes him
become this better young man that we see by the end of the passage. Yet it
still all comes crumbling down.
Michael is
unable to act and show his true pride in Hanna when she needs it most and she
leaves him for it. Plain and simple. This seems to destroy him but obviously
there is more to be said for what will happen in the novel. Based on my
understanding it appears that their love would be shunned by the community due
to their age difference and could result in Hanna being charged with rape.
Michael does tell her he is 17, not the actual 15 years of age he is. This could
incur problems later into the novel, but that has yet to be seen. For now I
feel that this novel is written very eloquently and is interesting to say the
least. But I cannot judge on what I think of the novel until I am able to see
where it is headed.
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