Michael was surprised to find a photograph of himself at a graduation ceremony, thinking "she must have gone to some trouble to find out about the photo and get a copy. And she had it with her during the trial? I felt the tears again in my chest and throat."(206) His tears are a sign of guilt and all of the emotions he had suppressed for so long, not knowing how to deal with these feelings.
I was also pleasantly surprised when the warden told Michael regarding Hanna's illiteracy, "...she didn't try to hide it any longer. She was also just proud that she had succeeded, and wanted to share her happiness." (206) I wouldn't have thought that Hanna would've taken the effort to persevere and take on the task of learning how to read and write, but she indirectly had Michael's support and her environment in jail motivated her to read about the concentration camps and to communicate with Michael. I was tearing up when I realized how lonely Hanna was to the extreme that Michael was the only one she could write letters to, but Michael refused to answer her and continued sending cassette tapes.
I found it really ironic when Michael was confused when Hanna did not address Michael directly in her will and thought "Did she intend to hurt me? Or punish me?" because Michael had committed the exact same crime to Hanna, but then he as always, he would contemplate the opposite side of the argument, "Or was her soul so tired that she could only do and write what was absolutely necessary? "What was she like all those years?" I waited until I could go on. "And how was she these last few days?" (207) It also made me emotional knowing that Michael is finally facing the reality of Hanna's life in prison, realizing that he still cared and loved her but failed to visit her in prison, and it was too late for him to ask his questions to Hanna.
"It looked rigid and dead. As I looked and looked, the living face became visible in the dead, the young in the old. This is what must happen to old married couples, I thought: the young man is preserved in the old one for her, the beauty and grace of the young woman stay fresh in the old one for him. Why had I not seen this reflection a week go?" (209)
I felt that this particular quote was significant in the sense that it summed up the result of Michael and Hanna's relationship. They were the "old married couple" and Michael began to realize how his idea of Hanna was always this youthful, strong, attractive woman even though time had passed and Hanna's past crimes were unveiled to him and both he and Hanna grew older with age, physically and mentally.
I had the same reaction when I read the last few chapters of The Reader, especially when the warden told him how Hanna had waited for a letter from Michael that never came (207). From how Schlink ended the book, with how Hanna had Michael's graduation photo and the sadness that overwhelmed Michael when he found out about her death, we were able to realized Hanna and Michael never stopped caring for each other even after they were separated. This can show how we shouldn't let a person's past get in the way of their future.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Michael finally had closure with Hanna's death? One would assume that he would be relieved that finally he did not have to worry about starting a relationship with Hanna and I think to some extent he was happy. However, I think that their relationship at this stage was still quite fragile and not defined, so it makes it difficult for Michael to fully have closure and to come to terms with the end of their relationship. I found Hanna to be selfish until the very end as she did not allow this for Michael.
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