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her age might have a husband and couples of children, but not Hanna. She lives alone, she has a decisive job and she drowns alone in her routines.
Asking about the life of Hanna, Michael then gets the answer of her life before he comes.
She had grown up in a German community in Rumania, then come to Berlin at the age of sixteen, taken a job at the Siemens company, and ended
up in the army at twenty-one. Since the end of war she had done all manner of jobs to get by. She had been a streetcar conductor for several years p.
39. The quotation conveys that Hanna spends her childhood in a German
community in Rumania, and at the age of sixteen she comes to Berlin. The new life in the new place can be difficult to a teenage girl, particularly when she lives
alone, but soon she takes a job in Siemens company. After working for a living, she ends up in the army at her early 20‘s. The army must form her to be an
independent, strong woman. When the war ends she can get by, owing to all manner of jobs she takes p. 39. Her independence might be developed strongly
by her extensive experiences in her youth. She is accustomed to living alone, to working for her own living, and facing every problem in her life alone. When
finally meeting Michael, she has been a streetcar conductor for several years p. 39. The quotations subsequently prove that Hanna is a strong independent
woman.
b. Domineering and Dominant
Murphy states that the author can describe a character of a person in the story through her mannerism p.173. In The Reader Hanna Schmitz is described
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as a domineering character. A domineering person tends to control other people without considering how they feel. Michael in his affair with Hanna is played as a
victim, Hanna dominates and manipulates him. The domination can be seen in
their early relationship. ...when we made love, too, she took possession of me as a matter of course.
..., she told me where to touch and how,... I was there only because she took pleasure in me and on me. I don‘t mean to say that she lacked
tenderness and didn‘t give me pleasure. But she did it for her own playful enjoyment, ...p. 33.
There can be seen that Michael is controlled by Hanna, yet he says that
Hanna only takes pleasure on him, she does control him for her own enjoyment. Here the thought that Hanna only sees Michael as an instrument to be used raised.
Next, Schlink also shows the characters of Hanna through Michael‘s exposition that she also wants to be looked as if she is a strong, firm person. This
personality is shown when Hanna and Michael go fighting for couples of time; one of the scenes is shown as following conversation,
It looks? You think it looks like you upset me? You dont have the power to upset me. And will you please go, finally? Ive been working, I want to
take a bath, and I want a little peace. p. 48. Hanna wants to be seen that she is superior, that she has power to conquer
Michael, that she succeed dominating him. She has a good way of telling and showing Michael that she is bigger and stronger than him.
Hanna is a character which is also prominently dominant among the other guards her community. A dominant person is more noticeable than other people,
so as Hanna, she is more dominant among the other guards. It can be seen as
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Michael says in one part of th e novel ―… In comparison with the other
defendants, Hanna was the dominant one.‖ p. 236. The quotations can reveal clearly that dominant
is one of Hanna‘s characters.
c. Remorseless
