Abstract
This paper endeavors to analyze the heroine Hanna in The Reader through the theory--the banality of evil. It attempts to provide a complete description of the complex features and summarizes the role orientation of Hanna Schmitz. Within the Political Philosophy Theory, this paper places much more emphasis on the common part of Adolf Eichmann and Hanna Schmitz. The study aims to illustrate features of the radical evil and the banality of evil and conclude the reasons leads to the banality of evil.
Keywords   The Reader  Hanna  the banality of evil  dual identities  

 本文主要通过“平庸的恶”这一理论分析了《朗读者》这部作品中的女主人公汉娜，试图对这一角色的复杂特点给出完整的描述，归纳这一角色的性质。同时，依据政治哲学理论，本文在注重分析艾希曼与汉娜两个角色的共同点上，探讨了根本恶与平庸的恶的概念，并且分析了导致平庸的恶这一现象产生的原因。
关键词  朗读者  汉娜  平庸的恶   双重身份

The Reader, a novel written by German law professor Bernhard Schlink, tells a story took place in Germany after World War II. For a chance, Michael Berg, a mature-beyond-his-ages 15-year-old boy, meeting with an mysterious woman more than twice his age leads to an a passionate, clandestine love affair, which is far more than he ever imagined. The woman in the relationship is Hanna Schmitz, who is not all she seems and leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. A half-dozen years later, Michael became a law student. When he observing a trial, he was shocked to meet Hanna Schmitz again as the person in the dock and realized the woman he had loved was a criminal.
After the trail, Hanna Schmitz was sentenced to life in jail. She began to teach herself to read by borrowing the books from the prison library. In her reading list, there was a book named Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which is written by Jewish political scientist Hannah Arendt who had escaped Nazi Germany and emigrated eventually to the United States.(Bergen, 6) Following the publication of the book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, the concept of "the banality of evil" came into prominence. It has been surrounded by controversy from then on. But its original intention was often misinterpreted. While Bernhard Schlink not only grasp the information in this concept, but also put it so skillfully into his book.