The Reader | Themes & Symbolism

The Reader Significant Topics

Guilt and Collective Guilt

The novel is suffused with guilt. The entire nation of Germany reels with the collective guilt of the Holocaust. Hanna is guilty of war crimes. Michael is guilty of betrayal. Michael's father is guilty of being a poor father. The driver to Schirmeck/Struthof-Natzweiler is guilty of performing executions. Even some of the Holocaust survivors feel guilty for surviving. Nazi sympathizes and collaborators are found in all areas of Michael's life. As a student, he has friends whose parents were executioners, informants and soldiers. As an adult, he feels guilty for being a divorced father, for betraying Hanna in thought, for not having a better relationship with his father. Michael's very employment as a legal historian focuses on guilt - he seeks answers from the past about what was wrong and what was right.

There are very few characters in the novel from Hanna's generation that Michael views as essentially innocent....
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