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even though Siemens had offered you a job as a foreman?‖ p. 96. Based on history, in the Nazi era there are many troops, SS is one of those. SS stands for
Schutzstaffel, an organization which is intended to provide security for Nazi Party, it was built upon Nazi ideology under the command of Heinrich Himmler
pp. 90- 93, ―Schutzstaffel‖, n.d.. Hanna as one of the female guards at SS is
responsible in a concentration camp in Auschwitz. Their job is to guide and to choose numbers of prisoners which are women and and girls to work in a factory,
the ones who could no longer perform useful work are sent back to the concentration camp to be killed p. 107. SS was then responsible for the crimes
against humanity during World War II ―Schutzstaffel‖, n.d.. Hanna further testifies that she serves in Auschwitz until early 1944 and moves to the west along
with the prisoners p. 97. Since the end of the war Hanna lives in one place and another, eight years is the longest time she spends in one place p. 97.
From the discussion, it can be identified that Hanna‘s social environment
as an SS guard related closely to the rules and regulations in the troops. She lives under commands which then require her to choose numbers of prisoners and send
them to death. Those then strengthen Hanna ‘s remorseless character trait.
d. Introvert
Behind her independence, her strength, her domineering character, and even her lack of remorse, Michael Berg as the narrator informs us that Hanna is an
introvert person. An introvert thinks only about her own thoughts and personal life, she does not enjoy spending time with other people. Here Hanna does not
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want others to know about her and her life. It is strengthened due to the fact that Hanna does not have someone who she could rely on in her lifetime, and she is
not really attached to the life she is living in, as it is seen in the novel ...she had no family. She was thirty-six. She told me all this as if it were
not her life but somebody else‘s, someone she didn‘t know well and who wasn‘t important to her p. 39.
It is shown that Hanna tends to be introvert; she does not really need
someone paying attention to her. It is also miserable when one is living someone else‘s life, the life that she does not know whom is it. Yet, Hanna thinks the one
who owns her life is not important to her. The outcome is that she does not share much about her life with others, moreover, she behaves and talks as if she does
not have her own life, pretending that she is somebody else, or, what happens is that she does not want the life she has.
Inside the prison she still maintains her introvert behavior as the warden explai
ns how Hanna lives with the other prisoner there, the warden says ―... she was friendly but reserved.‖ p. 208. Those quotations stated show the introvert
character of Hanna Schmitz.
e. Insecure
An insecure person will feel unconfident about herself and abilities, it might be caused by the environment which does not give the feeling of safety.
Michael Berg also says implicitly that Hanna would show her self-defense and build a high boundary so that others could not touch the fragile part of herself;
these indicate the insecurity indeed.
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Hanna and Michael fight for many times during the relationship, sometimes, all of a sudden she gets irritated then they start fighting. However,
Hanna never wants to discuss about the fight with Michael. I couldnt talk to her about it. Talking about our fights only led to more
fighting. Once or twice I wrote her letters. But she didnt react and when I asked her about them, she said, Are you starting that again? p. 50.
Sometimes it bothers Michael for not knowing what actually makes Hanna
angry or what the main reason of their fighting is. As discussed earlier that she never wants to take the blame for the fights they have, it shows that she is
insecure instead. She manages to avoid the discussion and still set her self bigger than Michael. In her insecurity, Hanna appears to be incapable of any true
emotions. She is quick to anger, but just as quick to let it go. Sometimes I had the feeling that she hurt herself when she turned cold and
rigid. As if what she was yearning for was the warmth of my apologies, protestations, and entreaties. p. 50.
The quotations above presents Michael‘s feeling of why it is always him
taking all the blames and crawling to Hanna for an apology. The insecurity in social life faced by Hanna for her illiteracy are also told by Michael when he
visits Hanna‘s cell after she is found dead, as shown in the quotation below, … A newspaper photograph showed an older man and a younger man,
both in dark suits, shaking hands. In the young one, bowing to the older one, I recognize myself. I was graduating for school, and was getting a
prize from the principal at the ceremony. That was a long time after Hanna had left the city. Had Hanna, who could not read, subscribed to the local
paper in which my photo appeared? In any case she must have gone to some trouble to find out about the photo and get a copy. And had she had it
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with her during the trial? I felt the tears again in my chest and throat. p. 206
Understanding the quotation above, it can be perceived that Hanna faces
some inconveniences even for subscribing the local paper and to get a copy of it. Here the social environment might not be a secure place for an illiterate person
like Hanna. This condition becomes worse for Hanna never lets her illiteracy known by people.
In the end of the story, Hanna‘s committing suicide as her final decision of her life reveals the insecure feeling she has in her lifetime.
f. Secretive
