Rachel Smith

11/6/04

M. Esa

“Coping with the Past in The Reader and The Nasty Girl”

The generation born after the Holocaust was faced with a realization of their past; where had their parents and relatives been? What had they been doing? These questions and many more forced many individuals to begin the process of “coping with the past.” A great deal of Germany faced such delving intellect with distain; they had no wish to dig up or reminisce over such atrocities. Within the two works, The Nasty Girl, directed by Michael Verhoeven, and The Reader, written by Bernhard Schlink, the attitudes toward a realization of the past were varied. Overall, the groups and characters were similar in their researching and methods, but they differed in their mindset, coping mechanisms, and success in coping with the past.

Within both The Nasty Girl and The Reader, Germany as a whole used the process of judicial trial to attempt to reconcile with the Jewish people. One of the main characters in The Reader, Hanna Schmitz, was a victim of a trial similar to those which took place in Nuremburg; she was accused of letting a church full of Jewish victims burn to the ground, for she refused to unlock the doors because of her orders. The others, also previously SS officers, whom were accused with her were exemplary of those who refused to realize and cope with their past; they refused to admit their participation within such horror and blame everything they could on Hanna. At this time, Hanna herself was unable to cope either, for she would not admit her illiteracy and thus her partial innocence, before the jury; her pride was self-destructive in this manner. “Then she said, ‘you don’t have to call an expert, I admit I wrote the report’ (Schlink 129). Because of her ambiguous nature, Hanna no longer held a strong case. Within The Nasty Girl, a trial was also used, but instead of actually taking place, the people of Pfiltzing condemned Dr. Juckenack privately and finally supported Sonya Wegmus’ accusations, hoping it would stop her further researching the city’s past. Sonya’s accusations were against three prominent city figures; professor Juckenack, A priest called Brimmel, and the mayor, Zumtobel. They took part in the hanging of an innocent Jew back in the Nazi era according to Sonya’s research. The city populace, like the other defendants in Hanna’s trial, was unwilling to cope with the Nazi past. Overall, Hanna was unable to cope with her past, she did attempt to reconcile with herself in several ways, but it was not enough; she was unable to reenter the world after being condemned to life. “Next morning, Hanna was dead. She had hanged herself at daybreak” (Schlink 203). In this way, she is similar to the people of Sonya’s hometown; they were unable to face their past and thus harassed her or acquiesced purely for her silence.

The two works were similar in this way, but their differences are far more noticeable. The representatives of the Nazi regime in The Nasty Girl coped with their past in anger and denial, whereas Hanna realized her errors and attempted to earn absolution. Also, her illiteracy was a constant reminder of her actions during the WWII era; thus, using Michael, she taught herself to read and write. “I read the note and was filled with joy and jubilation. ‘ She can write, she can write!’” (Schlink 188). Even through this she was still using Michael to aid in her realization; her previous affair with him was another of her attempts to normalize her life. The representatives of the victims in the two works, Michael and Sonya, also coped in different ways. Sonya was obsessive about her research and refused to give up, whereas Michael didn’t even want to acknowledge such ideals; he was completely numb. He was never able to forget about his affair with Hanna, and thus he was never again successful in a relationship within the story. The act of sending the tapes to Hanna was another of Michael’s ways of dealing with the past of Germany. Sonya Wegmus was condemned for her actions as well as her writings, whereas Michael’s research was unsolicited. The two characters differ greatly in their attitude toward realization. Sonya welcomed and sought such learning, whereas Michael hid from it.

The two works were each very influential on the German people, especially after the fall of the Berlin wall. Such past actions have brought up the ideal of collective guilt. Collective guilt does not exist; you cannot make everyone guilty for the actions of a past group. Even though this is true, the citizens of Germany still feel such guilt all the time. Overall, within the two works The Reader and The Nasty Girl, the groups and characters are similar in their research and method, but they differ in their mindsets, coping mechanism, and overall success toward coping with the past.

Bibliography

The Nasty Girl. Dir. Michael Verhoeven. Videocassette. Germany. 1989.

Schlink, Bernhard. The Reader. New York: Vintage, 1999.