Part 2 Reaction

This second part of the book took an unexpected turn for me. I really had no idea I would find Hanna to be security guard for the SS. I guess that’s because when one thinks of the SS a mean control freak officer is imagined, and Hanna was nothing like that. The issue about Hanna not knowing how to read or write I completely saw coming though. It is different for an old tired lady who can barely see to ask a young man to read to her, but a 32 year old woman is a whole different scenario. It was an obvious win win for Hanna because she was getting sex and the pleasure of books that she never got to read (and it could be considered a win for Michael too as he was getting what most fifteen year old boys want.) I also noticed a parallel in the way Hanna behaved in the court and how Michael behaved in the bedroom. Hanna was submissive and always taking the blame and being humble in the court and when being accused of something she even knew she didn’t do. It reminded of how Michael would just take the blame for everything even when he knew he was right just to please Hanna and keep her making love to him. It also makes sense why Hanna manipulated Michael to be like that. She understood that a woman of her little intellectual power did not have much control when it came to other adults, and so she took advantage of the opportunity she had with Michael and used her body to the maximum potential to confuse a young boy into thinking he was in love, which in turn would allow her to control him and manipulate him as she wished. This could also explain why Hanna went into the SS to be an officer. She just wanted control and she knew she would never get it with mind power and so she had to resort to physical attributes and reputation.