Part 3

I can’t say that I’m not happy that this book is over, yet I can’t go as far as to say that I disliked it. I thought this book had a fair plot, but I just don’t think that I gained a whole lot from reading it as a whole. The end of the book reminded me of the cycles that we discussed in class at the beginning of the year. Essentially, in the end, you start to act as you did in the beginning. Michael went on with his life, had a wife, but didn’t really get over Hanna. I think that this shows why it can be so dangerous for children to have intimate relationships with adults. The adult is much more experienced and may think of the incident few times whereas to the child, it is something much greater. The level of commitment and experience comprising the dynamic that makes up an intimate relationship between an adult and child is something that I can only see as destructive to the child. Hanna’s last few months incarcerated show how much the relationship effected Michael from childhood through the rest of his life. He is able, after living a relatively calm life, return immediately to thinking about Hanna (not that he really ever stopped).  The fact that he was willing to speak to Hanna seemed to prove that he did not view the relationship he had with her as inappropriate. He seemed, more than anything, nervous. I think that he didn’t really want to see her because he was nervous, like a teenager going on a date. I am conflicted when I think about why Hanna killed herself. On one hand, I think it could be that she realizes how much of an impact she left on Michael and what she did with him really was much more meaningful to him than it was to her leaving her with immense guilt. Perhaps it was this combined with her guilt for having participated in the Nazi party back in Germany. Regardless of the reason, Hanna’s death sparks Michael to be able to confront and release the feelings that he had towards Hanna for so long, yet was incapable of confessing them. He grieves in a way that shows that he truly not just wanted her intimately, but wanted in her in a loving way.