QUESTION 10: In one of the core texts, to what extent can a central character be described as winning or losing?
             In Bernard Schlink's novel The Reader, his central male protagonist Michael can be described as a winner and his female protagonist Hanna can be described as a loser. Michael Berg is a winner in many aspects – he is smart, idealistic, a lady's man who leads a wealthy and happy life and seems to have all in front of him. Hanna is the loser in the story. She cannot read or write and struggles through life without an education, cannot hold down a job and is forced to confess to a crime that she did not commit in order to hide her personal shame of being illiterate.
             Michael is the central male character in The Reader and is the winner in the story. Michael finds comfort with Hanna as a fifteen-year-old boy and his sexual experiences with her helped him to become accustomed to the sexual arts at a young age. As a result, these sexual experiences helped him to feel comfortable around women and as a result, women around him felt that they could confide in him thus providing Michael with a strong basis for future relationships. On the other hand, Hanna is the opposite and the loser. She has the sexual relationship with Michael to fulfill her desire for power. Schlink uses this sexual relationship as a literary device to put a human face on the Nazi SS monsters, and the sole use for this relationship is for the feeling of power. This is one example of Michael winning and Hanna losing.
             Hanna also loses with her illiteracy. "Hanna could neither read nor write," and this caused major problems in her life. Hanna could not be employed in many jobs, as most required her to read and/or write. She could not hold down the few jobs that she was able find that did not require her to read and write, as she was scared of "exposing her illiteracy." She became a Nazi prison camp officer as the job did no
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