Schlink's The Reader

Part 1

• Before he goes there, how does Michael imagine Hanna's building? How is the reality different?
• How does Hanna's building smell?
• In later years, Michael dreams about Hanna's building. What changes? What stays the same?
• When Michael brings Hanna his flowers, what is she doing?
• Why does Michael flee Hanna's apartment?
• What does Michael ask later girlfriends to do in order to evoke Hanna's memory?
• Why does Hanna ask Michael to take a bath?
• The next night at dinner, Michael recalls, "I felt as if I were saying goodbye." Why and to whom?
• Why does Hanna first throw Michael out of bed?
• What is the first book Michael reads to Hanna?
• What happens when Michael visits Hanna on the streetcar? What pattern begins with their fight afterward?
• On their bicycle trip,with what does Hanna hit Michael and why?
• How does Michael convince his sister to let him stay home alone so Hanna can visit?
• Michael calls the transition to 11th grade "a watershed." Why?
• In 11th grade, Michael says, "that summer was the glide path of our love." What does he mean?
• To what animal does Michael compare Hanna?
• How does Michael begin to "betray" Hanna?
• Why does Hanna suddenly move away? Is there more than one reason?

Part 2

• As a result of Hanna's departure, what three "unformulated" resolutions does Michael make? Why does he describe himself as "callous" but "extremely sensitive"?
• When does Michael see Hanna again, and where?
• In law school, why does Michael begin to condemn his father?
• When he first sees Hanna in court, Michael says he feels nothing. When does that change?
• Describe Hanna's defense attorney.
• What memory does Michael compare to "a retrieved file"?
• Michael likens "perpetrators, victims, the dead, the living, survivors, and their descendents" to each other. Why?
• Michael wonders whether the second generation has only one option when faced with the Holocaust. What is that option and why?
• What two main crimes are Hanna and the other female guards charged with?
• What question does Hanna ask the judge?
• What did Hanna do to the youngest and weakest of the children in her camp? Why? How is it used against her?
• Where and when does "Hanna's secret" become clear to Michael?
• Why does Michael consider himself "guilty"?
• What dilemma does Michael consult his father about? What, according to his father, is Michael's responsiblity?
• What, according to Michael, helps us "supplement and embellish" our knowledge of the holocaust?
• What happens when Michael goes to the presiding judge?
• When the verdict is read, what about Hanna outrages the spectators?

Part 3

• What does Michael call "a lived reality" for his generation, and why?
• How does Michael believe he cheats his daughter Julia?
• At a funeral, Michael sees an old classmate who asks him a question. How does he answer?
• As a legal historian, what belief does Michael hold and the dismiss as a "chimera"? Why?
• What about The Odyssey illustrates Michael's new beliefs about the history of law?
• Why doesn't Michael send Hanna tapes of experimental literature?
• How does Hanna's handwriting change?
• How has Hanna changed when Michael goes to visit her?
• In the prison, what books does Michael find on Hanna's book shelves?
• Why is the warden angry with Michael?
• How does "the daughter" who survived the church fire react to Hanna's final gesture? What choice does she leave to Michael? What does she keep?