Second Reaction

Hanna and Michael’s second encounter was intense and intriguing, to say the least. They barely even looked at each other, and I found it surprising that two people with so much history could stay away from each other after not having seen one another for so long. I also wondered how Michael remained so calm and neutral about the whole thing. From what the book said, he did not feel anything when he saw her, and no longer felt anything for her. Was that Michael trying to cover up how he truly felt? Or was he old enough to realize that he had confused sex with love, and understood that he really did not love her the way he thought he did at the time. The reason this neutrality struck me as unbelievable was because of the struggles that Michael had to overcome after Hanna left him. He says in the book that he was depressed for a while, and that he had been hurt so badly that nothing else could hurt him and he had learned to live with the pain. Could it really be that all of this pain made him that numb?

Part two is also a time in the novel in which everything takes a turn. It is not longer a focus on Hanna and Michael’s relationship, but rather about the time period in which they are living in Nazi Germany and their social positions. Michael is a lawyer, and Hanna a former Nazi guard who sent people to their deaths. This makes me question Hanna’s morale, but also shows me that she is not educated enough to know what is right and wrong. I am excited to see where this book goes. So far, I have really enjoyed it.