The Reader: Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

After Hanna leaves, Michael thinks about her constantly. He daydreams about her in classes and calls out her name and reaches out for her at night. Eventually, however, he is able to stop thinking about her and his guilt fades. After that, Michael remembers being happy at school and during his first few years at university. He describes this time as “effortless,” in that relationships and friendships came easily to him and “nothing weighed heavily.” Michael takes on “a posture of arrogant superiority” and behaves cruelly toward others, like Sophie, whom he has sex with but isn’t interested in, and his grandfather, whose blessing Michael rejects. Yet despite his coldness and apparent indifference, Michael is at times extremely emotional, as “the smallest gesture of affection would bring a lump to [his] throat.”