The Reader

A detailed Summary of The Reader

Webster's dictionary defines the word relationship as the connections between or among other people. Life is filled with relationships, whether it is our family, our friends, and maybe one special love. They play an important role in determining one's character. The relationships that are personally invited, friends and lovers, are more essential, because one chooses them to be a part of their life. Michael and Hanna's kinship was of choice, he chose to keep going back to her, and she chose to let him in every time. The relationship Michael had with Hanna in his adolescence shaped his character and turned him into an adult numb to the world. Hanna made him this way because she, as an adult was numb to the world. Hanna had become numb because of her relationships she had, especially with the young Jewish girls who read to her. Michael notices Hanna's numbness for the first time as he observes her in her apartment:

It was almost as if she had withdrawn into her own body

and left it to itself and it's own quiet rhythms, unbothered by any input from her mind, oblivious to the outside world. (The Reader 16)

Gradually, without knowing, the numbness took over Michael's body, which in return, restricted his relat

Hanna displays her having this numbness throughout the book. Michael first notices the numbness when he watches her in the apartment. During their relationship it is apparent that she is numb with Michael because she never shows any affection towards him other than lust. This is apparent in their first fight when Hanna says to Michael, "You don't have the power to upset me"(48). The reality is, Hanna treated Michael like a nonentity. Michael knew, "She gave me the space in her life that she wanted me to have. I had to be content with that."(77). Hanna made sure that Michael did not find out about her past and the fact that she could not read. She distanced herself from him emotionally as a result, they never had serious conversations and never got to really know each other. In fact, when Michael asked her about her past she was very vague. Michael puts it best when he said:

The way Hanna treated Michael had an effect on the way Michael acted, and how he treated people, even his family in the future. He distanced himself from everyone except Hanna.

The way he reacted with his family has changed, Michael was learning how not to be intimate emotionally with others because of Hanna. The next time Michael felt numb was when he went on the Easter vacation bike ride with Hanna. The morning he woke up early and went out to get breakfast he was struck by Hanna with a belt to the point to where is lip bled. Michael claimed, "It didn't hurt."(55). Michael also had problems making close friends at school. He would hang out with them every day at the pool, until Hanna came home from work, then he would leave. He never told any of his classmates about Hanna because he was ashamed. The real numbness was felt when Michael started questioning their relationship. When Hanna came to see Michael at the pool Michael could not deal with being seen with her in public. Their relationship had been closed off from the world and he did not kn

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1314
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English