der vorleser sentences

Der Vorleser (1995) is a German novel by Bernhard Schlink. It explores a secret love affair between 15-year-old Michael Berg and 36-year-old Hanna Schmitz in the 1950s, and the repercussions years later when Hanna is tried for Nazi war crimes.

„Der Vorleser“ (1995) ist ein deutscher Roman von Bernhard Schlink. Er handelt von einer heimlichen Liebesbeziehung zwischen dem 15-jährigen Michael Berg und der 36-jährigen Hanna Schmitz in den 1950er Jahren sowie von den Folgen, die sich Jahre später ergeben, als Hanna wegen Nazi-Kriegsverbrechen vor Gericht steht.

Michael’s happy past memories of Hana are tainted by her crimes. He thinks “How could she have done those things”. This represents how we constantly reinterpret the past

Michaels schöne Erinnerungen an Hana werden von ihren Verbrechen überschattet. Er denkt: „Wie konnte sie nur so etwas tun?“. Dies zeigt, wie wir die Vergangenheit ständig neu interpretieren

Michael tries to repress memories of Hanna but he finds that (“Vergangenes ist nicht tot”) and is symbolised through his constant dreams of Hanna

Michael versucht, seine Erinnerungen an Hanna zu verdrängen, aber ihm ist klar, dass „die Vergangenheit nicht tot ist“, da er ständig von Hanna träumt

The survivors’ memoir is different as they actively remember and write the past so it won’t be forgotten

Die Memoiren der Überlebenden sind etwas Besonderes, weil sie die Vergangenheit aktiv in Erinnerung rufen und darüber schreiben, damit sie nicht in Vergessenheit

The 1950’s Generation wanted to move on and forget world war 2 but the 1960’s and 1970’s Generation (Michael’s generation) push to confront the past through trials and literature.

Collective memory - Hanna’s trial is based on the survivors’ memories (from the barn fire that Hanna guarded as an SS guard) being used as evidence against her.

Michael visits a concentration camp yet he feels numb. This represents the post-war generation it hard to emotionally connect with historical memories.

Hanna feels extremely remorseful when she reads the words of the survivors. Schlink suggests that in order to understand their guilt, perpetrators must confront the memories of the holocaust.

Memory is a double-edged sword. It is painful but necessary to confront in order to or give justice to the past.

The trial is imperfect. The defendants who blamed Hanna entirely, escapes from accountability. This represents the limitations of legal justice.

Michael and the reader judge Hanna morally. Michael tries to condemn and understand her. This encourages the reader to consider that Hanna both deserves punishment but evokes pity as a person.

The trials against former Nazis were a way for young prosecutors to hold older generations accountable

Hanna’s question “what would you have done?” is a moral challenge beyond the law. Michael says that the judge’s answer (“ there are matters one simply cannot get drawn into”) felt “pathetic” to the trial observers. Schink uses this scene to explore the moral dilemmas within justice

Schlink presents justice as necessary yet imperfect. The law can punish Hanna, but cannot account for her motivations. The novel suggests that understanding and acknowledging the truth is a form of justice. The most important example of this is Hanna learning to read the truth of her actions in prison.

a symbol of ignorance and moral immaturity whereas reading is a form of enlightenment and powerful. Hanna’s illiteracy represents the German population’s failure to see the genocide happening in their name. Hannah’s literacy stopped her from being able to interpret or judge situations. When Hanna learn to read in prison, she receives a late awakening that parallels with those who only acknowledge the horror of their actions years later.

In the Hanna worked at the prisoners who could read to her received some special treatment. Once Hannah overcomes her illiteracy she cannot hide behind ignorance for her actions.

Michael is a well educated law student while Hannah is uneducated formally. The novel asks does education mean better morality. Is Hannah had learned to read and write earlier in life, would her life had gone differently?