Presents illiteracy as a form of dependence. Hanna’s inability to read and write has a huge impact on her life, especially her shame for it. Throughout the novel it becomes clear that Hanna’s illiteracy affects her on her choices in life and her social skills, which in the end results in Hanna killing herself. She really does a lot to keep her literacy a secret. Hanna’s feels ashamed about being illiterate. She does not want people to know about her inability, so she keeps it a secret throughout her whole life, even from Michael. She enjoys being read to by Michael, but still manages to keep her illiteracy undercover; ‘’ ‘So read it to me!’ ‘Read it yourself. I’ll bring it for you.’ ‘You have a nice voice, kid, I’d rather listen to you than read it myself.’. There are several situations throughout part one in which Hanna’s shame on her illiteracy affects her relationship with Michael. Hanna’s shame sometimes even results in quarrels between the two. In part one of the novel Hanna and Michael go on a trip together.
On this journey, they have a conflict, absorbed from Michael’s point of view. He gets up early and writes Hanna a note that he goes out to get breakfast. Of course, Hanna is unable to read this note. In this state of the book, we as readers don’t know about Hanna being illiterate yet, which leaves us confused, just like Michael; ‘’ ‘What was the matter? Why did you get so angry?’ We were lying side by side, so satiated and content that I thought everything would be cleared up now. ‘What was the matter, what was the matter – you always ask such silly questions. You can’t just leave like that.’ ‘But I left you a note…’ ‘Note?’ I sat up. The note was no longer on the night table where I had left it.’’. Hanna must have hidden the note, so Michael would not find out she was not able to read it. Michael discovers her analphabetism by himself in the trial phase.
In the trial, Hanna’s illiteracy results in her being punished for things she did not do. She gets accused for being the leader of the guards and writing a report. At first, Hanna speaks her truth and tells the prosecutor the report was written by her and the other guards. When a defendant points at Hanna for writing the report, the prosecutor suggests an expert should be called to compare the handwriting. At this point Hanna panics; ‘’ ‘My handwriting? You want my handwriting?…’ ‘’(Schlink, 2008, p. 128) She ends up saying that she admits she wrote the report. Apparently, she was so embarrassed that she would rather take on the entire debt, than people would find out about her illiteracy. This resulted in her getting sentenced to life, while the others received terms in jail.
Hanna’s inability to read and write also limits her in comprehending situations around her. When the judges ask Hanna if she knew she was sending the prisoners to their death, Hanna responses a very odd way: ‘’ ‘Did you know that you were sending the prisoners to their death?’ ‘Yes, but the new ones came, and the old ones had to make room for the new ones.’ ‘So because you wanted to make room, you said you and you and you have to be send back to be killed? Hanna didn’t understand what the judge was getting at. ‘I…I mean…so what would you have done?’ Hanna meant it as a serious question. ‘’ In this passage it is very clear that Hanna has a backlog in comprehending situations around her. She clearly is not aware on how she comes across to the jury.
She gives the trial’s spectators the impression that she cares more about the logistics of clearing out space for new prisoners than about the lives of the people she sent to Auschwitz. Hanna’s backlog in comprehending situations around her, caused by her illiteracy, degreases as she learns how to read and write. This resulted in a very unfortunate Hanna, who finally decides that it is best to end her life. In the state of the novel Hanna is prison. Michael sends her tapes on which he is reading books out loud. In this way Hanna is able teach herself how to read and write. ‘’I read the note and was filled with joy and jubilation. ‘She can write, she can write!’ In these years I had read everything I could lay my hands on to do with illiteracy. I knew about the helplessness in everyday activities, finding one’s way or finding an address or choosing a meal in a restaurant, about how illiterates anxiously stick to prescribed patterns and familiar routines, about how much energy it takes to conceal one’s inability to read and write, energy lost to actual living.
Illiteracy is dependence. By finding the courage to learn to read and write, Hanna had advanced from dependence to independence, a step towards liberation.’’. By learning Hanna is able to understand the impact she had on the lives of the victims who survived. This must have been hard for her. So hard that she commits suicide. Being illiterate in a country that has 99% illiteracy makes it hard for Hanna to function socially. Her shame puts her in difficult situations which affects her life in different ways. Also, the illiteracy enormously limits her in the field of work which results in Hanna being a guard and responsible for a lot of terrible things. All these things summed up together leaf Hanna very vulnerable and unhappy which results her suicide. Hanna being illiterate really forms the story of this novel.
