Plot Summarize the main of the plot of this novel. This novel takes place in post-war Germany and begins when a sick fourteen year old, Michael Berg, is saved by Hanna Schmitz, after throwing up alongside the wall. They begin a covert love affair, that leads Berg to his lifelong infatuation of women like Hanna after she disappears for eight years. As fate would have it, while studying in law school, he observes Nazi war trials and sees Hanna as a defendant, who is then found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The court did not know that she was actually illiterate and could not have written the letter that made her end up in prison, but she would rather have been sentenced than to be seen as that. Throughout a span of eighteen years, Berg …show more content…
One example of verbal irony was when Hanna went to the first train car and Michael went into the second because he wanted to be more alone with her. However, when she didn’t go to the second one, Michael thought Hanna didn’t want to be seen with him and Hanna though Michael didn’t want to be seen with her either. One example of situational irony was on pages 54-55 when Michael had gone out to pick up a nice breakfast for Hanna and left her a note, not knowing that she was illiterate. What he had thought would turn into a romantic gesture on his part, Hanna ended up hitting him in the face with a belt because she feared he had left her. An example of dramatic irony could be when some of the readers started to catch onto the fact that Hanna was illiterate even before Michael realized …show more content…
Were there any foils in this novel? Yes, Hanna and Michael can actually be considered foils of each other since they are so different in personalities and thinking. Some examples I saw were their personalities because Michael is very shy and kept in and has a hard time talking to people. Hanna, on the other hand, obviously takes the dominant role in the relationship and sort of uses him as her boytoy. As for the different ways they think, when Hanna was on trial and would rather be sentenced to life in prison than to admit she was illiterate, Michael could not understand that decision at all and even considered telling the judge the