Bernhard Schlinks Der Vorleser and the Problem of Shame

Bernhard Schlinkʹs novel Der Vorleser has been criticized for portraying a concentration-camp guard, Hanna Schmitz, as a victim of illiteracy for whom the reader is supposed to feel pity. In contrast to this, it is here argued that Hanna Schmitz comes across not as a victim of illiteracy, but as an evasive individual who consistently refuses to face the shame this illiteracy causes her. In addition, the article contends that Hannaʹs development in prison is deeply compromised; Der Vorleser is not the Bildungsroman many take it to be.