The significance of the trip to Hanna and Michael’s relationship (p.49 to 54)

In chapter eleven, Michael and Hanna decide to take a four day bike trip during Easter. Bernhard Schlink uses this trip to show us a new side of both characters. During the trip, everything is reversed; Michael becomes the dominant one who makes all the decisions and Hanna is the weaker one. This is a big contrast with the beginning of the novel.

In this chapter, Michael makes all the decisions and planning. Michael worked out the whole route on the map and Hanna “didn’t want to look, or even hear about it”. “Hanna didn’t just let [him] be in charge of choosing our direction and the roads to take. [He] was the one who picked out the inns where [they] spent the nights, registered [them] as mother and son while she just signed her name, and selected [their] food from the menu for both of [them]. This quote clearly demonstrates that Hanna wants to be lead and Michael as complete control over every aspect of the trip. He is without a doubt the dominant one in this situation. This comes to quite a shock or surprise to the reader as she was presented by Schlink earlier in the novel as an independent and self-reliant women. She was the dominant one in the relationship and during the trip the roles are completely reversed.

The trip is also used by Schlink to represent one of the main flaw in their relationship; miscommunication. Michael leaves early in the morning to surprise Hanna with breakfast and flowers, he leaves a note on the table saying he’ll be right back. However, he doesn’t know that Hanna is illiterate and is unable to read his note; she thinks he has left her. She was “trembling with rage and white-faced”, these are powerful of descriptions of anger showing how miscommunication is causing them trouble – he was doing a nice gesture but due to miscommunication it puts Hanna in a “fury” and makes her “burst into tears”. He had “never seen her cry”, this is the first time in the novel where we see Hanna as weak and fragile. It suggests to the reader that we don’t know much about her true personality. It gives a sense of mystery to her character. In addition, the reader sympathises and creates a closer emotional attachment to her when we see that there is more to her character.

To conclude, the trip is used by Schlink to show a complete new face of Hanna. In contrast with earlier in the novel, she is presented as weak and she lets herself be controlled by Michael. He is now the dominant one. Furthermore, during the trip, miscommunication leads to her crying. Seeing her cry creates sympathy and it creates a sense of mystery to her character as we are seeing a completely different side of her.