Through the use of settings, Bernhard Schlink emphasises the central ideas of the novel The Reader. The central ideas of human behaviour and guilt, responsibility and justice, looking beyond actions and insight are each explored through the use of settings. Settings such as Hanna’s bathtub, the concentration camp and the courtroom and the woods are each used to emphasise a central idea. Schlink uses stylistic devices such as symbolism, analogy, allusion and narrative point of view to communicate these ideas and accentuate the central ideas conveyed in the novel through setting.
One of the central ideas explored in the novel The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is human behaviour and guilt. Schlink uses the setting of Hanna’s bathtub to explore …show more content…
The setting of the courtroom depicts the chapters where the adult Michael sees Hanna on trial for her role as an SS Guard responsible for the deaths of prisoners. Schlink describes how Michael and the other young law students see themselves as being in judgement on earlier generations who have brought about the Holocaust. He uses the analogy of a room where the windows are opened to let in light and fresh air. He describes in detail how “we tore open the windows and let in the air, the wind that finally whirled away the horrors of the past” (pg 83). The courtroom is described being a very light place, a place where you could “cast light on things” (pg 93). In the end though the idealism about the court throwing light on human behaviour and helping bring justice does not succeed. The behaviour of the judge, Hanna and the other accused women is full of lies and deceit. However, at this point Michael doesn’t know that Hanna is illiterate and only later in the plot understands more about Hanna, then describing the courtroom as being “the court before which once again I concentrated all my energies” (pg 183). Before Hanna is due to be released from prison she tells Michael that “when no one understands you, no one can call you to account. Not even the court could call me to account. But the dead can.” (p196). As the description of the courtroom changes as justice ensues, so does Michaels understanding of Hanna and the nature of responsibility and
One of the central ideas explored in the novel The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is human behaviour and guilt. Schlink uses the setting of Hanna’s bathtub to explore …show more content…
The setting of the courtroom depicts the chapters where the adult Michael sees Hanna on trial for her role as an SS Guard responsible for the deaths of prisoners. Schlink describes how Michael and the other young law students see themselves as being in judgement on earlier generations who have brought about the Holocaust. He uses the analogy of a room where the windows are opened to let in light and fresh air. He describes in detail how “we tore open the windows and let in the air, the wind that finally whirled away the horrors of the past” (pg 83). The courtroom is described being a very light place, a place where you could “cast light on things” (pg 93). In the end though the idealism about the court throwing light on human behaviour and helping bring justice does not succeed. The behaviour of the judge, Hanna and the other accused women is full of lies and deceit. However, at this point Michael doesn’t know that Hanna is illiterate and only later in the plot understands more about Hanna, then describing the courtroom as being “the court before which once again I concentrated all my energies” (pg 183). Before Hanna is due to be released from prison she tells Michael that “when no one understands you, no one can call you to account. Not even the court could call me to account. But the dead can.” (p196). As the description of the courtroom changes as justice ensues, so does Michaels understanding of Hanna and the nature of responsibility and