Friday, February 14, 2014
Final Socratic Seminar Reflection
Our class final Socratic seminar for The Reader discussed many different themes and events relating to the main characters, Michael and Hanna. I think we all agreed as a class that this novel was not just a "love story" but served as an allegory for the guilt carried by Germany's postwar generation as a result of the past crimes in World War II. We clarified on the connection of Michael's guilt to the guilt carried by the postwar generation, but we also realized that "coming to terms with the past" had been a similar issue for both Michael and Germany as a whole. I also find it interesting how Michael doesn't really carry the burden of guilt the same way the postwar generation did, he sort of did acknowledge Hanna's crimes and went to Hanna's trials, but didn't actively or directly place the guilt on anyone. He's unable to blame Hanna because he always in the end accepts the blame as his own doing. We also agreed as a class that Michael and Hanna had an unhealthy relationship to begin with, and it was doomed from the very beginning. Some people thought that Hanna's death was a relief for Michael and proposed that she should have died earlier in the story because of how much she has damaged Michael's life. We, the readers, also have no clue whether or not Hanna was actually aware of the damage she'd given to Michael, but the scene when Michael meets Hanna for the first time since she was sentenced to prison, explains that Hanna finally understood how much Michael has changed. I am still confused by the complexity in the debate of guilt and who should be deemed responsible for the guilt and whether or not it's justified for a person to carry the guilt for the rest of his/her's life. I wish we could have discussed more of The Reader together as a class because The Reader consists of infinite debate on morals, justice, and dealing with the past.
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I think the fact that Michael always seems to blame himself for something he clearly didn't do was a way for Schlink to show how the second generation was doing the same thing (blaming themselves for Germany's past). It's amazing how much of an allegory The Reader is to the second generation vs. the first generation and I think Schlink really did a good job in portraying Michael as the second generation and showing his message through the book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think we really need more discussions on The Reader because I'm still conflicted as to whether Hanna should still be held accountable for her past actions or forgiven because she has clearly changed. During the discussion, someone (I think Terence) brought up a really good point that only the only the victims, not Michael, have the right to forgive Hanna.
Personally, The Reader is my favorite out of all the texts we have analyzed so far. I like Schlink's use of simple language because it really makes the story a lot more relatable and comprehensible. I think viewing this novel as a "love story" could be very interesting. We established that perhaps Schlink decided to incorporate romantic relationships among the main characters to "humanize" them. While Hanna and Michael's relationship was slowly destructing itself, the same thing was happening in Germany. The clever parallels Schlink intended to portray in this novel adds just the perfect final touches to this master piece.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting how Michael doesn't seem like the postwar generation in their blaming of others. Of course he still blames it on himself but at least he doesn't try to direct it at his parents anymore. So I think this book is a lot about trying to understand the perpetrators. We don't have to sympathize with them, we just have to know what it's like. And for the issue of guilt, I think it'd be hard to come to a conclusion even if we talked about it for ages. Morality is actually such a complex topic with lots of gray areas.
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