Arguably, Schlink presents Michael as a selfish lover as he conveys a sense of secrecy and deception and is unhappy with the life he has and no longer wants it. Schlink uses the short phrase "I didn't tell him about Hanna" to imply that perhaps he was very happy with her and doesn't want his wife to know, because then it wouldn't be their secret anymore, it which makes him selfish. lover because he hides a very important part of his past and hides it from her. However, another interpretation could be that he would be ashamed of what he did and who she turned out to be and therefore he is trying to hide his wife from the truth, which would make him a selfless lover . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Schlink uses the repetition of the word "bad" to describe Gertrud while Schlink chooses to have Michael compare her to Hanna, which could be considered selfish. because Gertrud will never be Hanna and it is unfair of her to compare the two when they are so different. Additionally, the word "bad" connotes the idea that she is not what he wants her to be and is therefore "wrong" in his eyes and implies that she is imperfect in his eyes. Schlink uses the first person to show how Michael feels. and to show his inner thoughts, as can be seen when he goes to see Hanna and Michael feels that he "already disappointed her" and wanted to be a better person and "make up for it". These quotes imply that he is aware of his faults and how he has hurt people, or disappointed people in Hanna's case, and that he may want to change his ways to be better, and that he Maybe he wants to be a better person. for Hannah. So this could imply that he still feels an emotional connection to her and is trying to be a selfless person by becoming a better person. Although Michael's character appears to have feelings at the beginning of the clip, when he visits her, he internally wonders "why should I have given her a place in my life", which could be considered a selfish thinking and attitude. because even though his romantic feelings towards her change, even diminish as he sees how much she has aged and changed, they are still selfish because she has made a place for him in her life and it seems that he does not don't reciprocate. Additionally, Schlink describes Hanna as having an "old woman" smell and "gray hair" and uses a rhetorical question as if Michael could hardly believe it was her. Schlink portrays Michael as not only a selfish lover, but also a selfish person, as this description and Michael's questioning thoughts imply that he put her on a pedestal and created an idealized, perfect vision of her. Hanna in his mind. in real life, she does not correspond to what he expected and therefore judges her selfishly although it is his fault because she is not and cannot be perfect, but that is how he judges her. created in his mind. Although there is evidence to support the idea that Schlink portrays Michael as a selfish lover, it is more difficult to believe because this excerpt has an unreliable narrator of Michael's character himself and therefore tries to avoid to convey a selfish attitude. Keep in mind: This is just a sample.Get a custom paper from our expert writers now.Get a Custom EssayOverall, Schlink uses the first person to successfully show inner thoughts and true feelings of Michael in order to describe him both as a.