Arguably, Schlink presents Michael as a selfish lover since he conveys a feeling of secrecy and deceit and that he is dissatisfied with the life he has and does not he wants it more. Schlink uses the short phrase "I didn't tell her about Hanna" to imply that perhaps he was very happy with her and doesn't want his wife to know about her because otherwise it wouldn't be their secret anymore, which makes him selfish. lover because he is hiding a very important part of his past and hiding it from her. However, another interpretation could be that he may be ashamed of what he has done and who he has turned out to be and therefore is trying to hide the truth from his wife which would make him a selfless lover. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essaySchlink uses repetition of the word "wrong" to describe Gertrud while Schlink chooses to have Michael compare to Hanna, which could be seen as selfish since Gertrud will never be Hanna and it is unfair of him to compare the two when they are like this different. Furthermore, the word "wrong" connotes the idea that she is not what he wants her to be and therefore she is "wrong" in his eyes and implies that she is imperfect to him. 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 "let her down before" and that he wants to be a better person and "make it up to you" . These quotes imply that he is aware of his flaws and how he has hurt people, or disappointed people in Hanna's case, and that maybe he wants to change his ways to be better, and that maybe he wants to be a better person. for Hanna. This could therefore imply that he still feels an emotional connection to her and that he is trying to be an altruistic person by becoming a better person. Although Michael's character appears to have feelings at the beginning of the excerpt, when he goes to visit her, he internally wonders "why I should give her a place in my life", which could be seen as a selfish thought and attitude. as if her romantic feelings towards him are changing, perhaps diminishing when he sees how much she has aged and changed, she is still selfish as she has created a place for him in her life and he doesn't seem to reciprocate it. Furthermore, Schlink describes Hanna as having an "old" smell and "gray hair" and uses a rhetorical question as if Michael can hardly believe it is her. Schlink portrays Michael not only as a selfish lover but also as a selfish person since this description and Michael's questioning thoughts imply that he has put her on a pedestal and that he has created an idealized and perfect vision of Hanna in his mind that when he sees her in real life, it doesn't match what he expected and so he selfishly judges her even though it's her fault since she isn't and can't be perfect but that's how he created her in his mind. While there is some evidence to support the idea that Schlink portrays Michael as a selfish lover, it is harder to believe since this excerpt has an unreliable narrator of the character Michael himself and therefore tries to avoid conveying a selfish attitude. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Overall, Schlink uses the first person to successfully show Michael's inner thoughts and true feelings to portray him as both a selfish character and a selfish lover, although Michael's actions and thoughts can also be seen as selfless by some critics as much as it tries to.