In this passage, Michael has already graduated, the student movement has begun, and he is reflecting on generational conflict and the struggle to come to terms with Germany’s Nazi past. While pointing at the previous generation’s guilt was part and parcel of this struggle, Michael does not feel that he could point to his parents as guilty the way that his peers pointed to their parents. The only person whom Michael can personally condemn is Hanna, but in his mind, Hanna’s guilt necessitates his own, as he feels complicit for loving her. Unlike his peers, who did not choose their…