Analysis Of Bernhard Schlink 's ' The Reader '

This paper deals with ways history can be interpreted and influences different interpretations have on society and individuals. This is explored through

“That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I had been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” (Hosseini, 1)

Do events of the past affect an individual’s life? How important are memories of the past for people of the future? Does the past, even relate to the future at all? To figure out the answers to these questions, one has to understand the impact that past events can do to one’s future. Events in the past are essential to an individual 's development and can change their perspective of life. As a matter of fact, you can see these questions being answered in Classical Literature, Modern Literature, Current Events and even Visual Rhetoric.

The book Silencing The Past is about how people “silence” the past through selective memories to benefit us in the present. We pick out certain events and either dramatize them or play them down to the point of no importance. This paper is about both our played up dramas and our forgotten realities.

The Past, an ever growing pool of time, is always biting at the heels of a person. It reminds him of what they have done wrong, done right, or when he did nothing. For most people, recalling the past leads to loose ends and blanks where memories should be. No matter how much a person may want to return to the past, it is not possible. It is lost forever. These forgotten moment lead to uncertainties and confusion in the present, and chaos in the future. Forgetting the past leads to spirals, spinning downwards as people look to what they have lost. They retrace their steps hoping to find a sliver of who they are and what may become of them. In the poem, Itinerary, Eamon Grennan shows how an individual searches through his past, but can never return to it. Through the poem and with a personal experience I will explain how individuals deal with uncertainties in their pasts.

He focuses on the struggle of human beings to achieve their goals by both transcending and re-creating the past. Yet humans prove themselves unable to move beyond the past.

In both Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Vonnegut’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, the authors show major concerns about the future. Bradbury’s major concern is the misuse of technology that leads to the corruption of society while Vonnegut’s major concern is overpopulation and the lack of natural resources for the future. Both authors show concerns that can turn out to be real if people do not do anything about the environment and about technology.

Further exploration of this novel will help to locate the past, elevate the present, and imagine the future.

As unfortunate as it is, we will go through many struggles, hardships, and heartbreaks throughout the span of our lives. While we've all experienced times where we wish we could bypass all the low points, and instead experience only happiness, there is reason behind the trials and tribulations we face. For example, in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the main character, Joel, falls in love with a girl named Clementine only to have the relationship fall apart. Breakups are a natural, yet very painful part of life and it would be spectacular if we didn't have to go through them, but sometimes it's these hardships that provide us with a lesson to be gained. We learn about what we like or dislike about a partner. We learn about what may have caused the relationship to fail, and then we learn how we can avoid those problems in future relationships. In Fahrenheit 451, the plot encompasses around the idea that the world needs more censorship, and in the dystopia in which the novel takes place, the solution to a seemingly "better" society is to burn books. The solution in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is to have your memory of the person that caused you heartbreak to be erased. Perhaps these solutions may "fix" certain negative qualities about the way life operates, they are only putting a band-aid over life's problems, and therefore not resulting in an effective or morally correct outcome. Given the fact that censorship poses a hindrance to the development of society

“If the human race didn’t remember anything it would be perfectly happy" (44). Thus runs one of the early musings of Jack Burden, the protagonist of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. Throughout the story, however, as Jack gradually opens his eyes to the realities of his own nature and his world, he realizes that the human race cannot forget the past and survive. Man must not only remember, but also embrace the past, because it teaches him the truth about himself and enables him to face the future.

Within Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader, the characters Michael Berg and Hanna Schmidt possess individual and collective pasts which are impossible to escape and ultimately influence the paths of their lives throughout the novel. Schlink conveys this idea through the combined use of structure, setting, characterization, narrative perspective, and references to memory, dreams and symbolism.

Literacy plays a crucial role in the development of a character concerning their success or demise which is prominently seen in Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader. Published in 2008, The Reader takes place in post-war Germany, in which the main character, Michael Berg is re united with his former lover, who had left almost 10 years prior, in a court room setting where she is held accountable for the death of numerous Jews during World War 2. Through the relationship between Michael and his former lover, Hanna, Schlink makes connections and communicates the tensions between the Germans and Jews during the war. This is embodied through Hanna’s illiteracy which places great limitations on her life, though she is still able to live a normal one. The negative effects of being illiterate is seen through her inclination to gain power, which is directly related to the invasion of Nazis in Germany during the war. Moreover, her inability to read or write causes Hanna to be easily manipulated, just as Hitler had influenced the actions of numerous Nazi officials, which is greatly notable during her trial when the people convicted with her placed all the blame on her. Though Hanna’s illiteracy greatly affects our understanding of The Reader, it is important to note the greater effect that Michael’s literacy had on the story, in which he had helped Hanna to gain the ability to read and write. Additionally, Schlink correlates the theme of illiteracy with that of morality, which is utilized to

Memory is a powerful concept. Often when an individual undergoes a traumatic situation, the ramifications of these actions seep into an individualfs psyche unknowingly. In effect this passes through memory and becomes sub-consciously buried within a personfs behavioural patterns generally. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink explores the concept of a young mans subconscious desire for a woman whom he gcanft remember to forgeth (1Memento) as she is so deeply inlaid within his soul.

For many years, the well-known novelist, H.G. Wells has captivated the minds and imaginations of readers with his multiple best-selling books; The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. These selections however are not Wells’ most controversial novel. The Time Machine, written in 1895, is Wells’ most talked about work. Multiple different themes and various sides are seen to be taken within this novel, one of these main themes being the separation of classes. While the Morlock’s and the Eloi, in H.G. Wells’ novel; The Time Machine, play an extremely important role in distinguishing the future for this book, one has reason to believe that there is a broader underlying meaning for these two types of