Bernhard Schlink was brought up in Heidelberg from the age of two.

Examining the role of guilt in post-war Germany, The Reader presents guilt as a pervasive and inevitable force. German Guilt Diffusion and the German-Made Holocaust (50 Books Reviewed by Jan Peczkis) Germany Buys the Forgiveness of the Jews [This Page] De-Germanized Nazis in the Media, Hollywood, and Museums [p. 11] German Guilt Evasion is INTENTIONAL [p. 19] Blaming Christianity and Generic “European Anti-Semitism” [p. 34] For a long time I believed there was progress in the history of law, a development towards greater beauty and truth, rationality and humanity, despite terrible setbacks and retreats. It seems that the horrors of that time can only be digested and understood in small bites. Absolutely, according to Michael Berg, the main character in Bernhard Schlink?s novel, The Reader. With some noble exceptions -- Willy Brandt and Richard von Weizsacker among them -- politicians have admitted German guilt only under pressure. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Bernhard Schlink's The Reader. An important motif running throughout the story is the question of who must be held responsible for atrocities committed during the Holocaust. The Reader Bernhard Schlink Themes War Guilt One of the main ideas in The Reader is German war guilt - guilt felt by both the war-time generation and the post-war generation. ... the fate of my generation, a German fate . The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations have had comprehending the Holocaust ; Ruth Franklin writes that it was aimed specifically at the generation Bertolt Brecht called the Nachgeborenen, those who came after. After being hypnotized for two days while I read this very interesting story, I … One of the main ideas in The Reader is German war guilt – guilt felt by both the … Schlink became a judge at the Constitutional Court of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1988 and in 1992 a professor for public law and the philosophy of law at Humboldt University, Berlin. He distinguishes 4 types of 'guilt' - criminal, moral, metaphysical and political. After … He studied law at West Berlin's Free University, graduating in 1968. Feb 09, … The theme of war guilt in Bernard Schlink’s, “The Reader” Essay Sample. This is one of the most honest attempts I have ever read dealing with this important issue. Can one German's experience reflect the tendencies of the entire country with regards to passion, denial, guilt, and finally justice? thought so long 4 and hard about German guilt that The Reader distils its questions, its answers, and its pure pain more simply and disturbingly than anything I've ever read.” - “The Reader is not revisionist, because it is too profound; that it is more destructive of our … Karl Jaspers examines the question of German guilt associated with the rise of Nazism. p.169. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Germans are still shackled to their past and it greatly influences the way they deal with Europe and the wider world, according to one of the country's foremost writers and thinkers. The Reader: Key Quotes ... shame and guilt. German Guilt in Bernhard Schlink's The Reader Essay 1542 Words 7 Pages Every year or so, something happens in the media that brings us all back to the atrocities of World War II, and the German persecution of the Jews.