Hanna's Dual Nature

Please don’t judge me as I make a reference to Britney Spears’ song “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman” to describe Hanna and her dual nature. Hanna and Britney are truly on the same page when it comes to finding themselves oscillating between stages of their lives. Only twenty years of age, Hanna demonstrates characteristics that show her to be a strong, independent woman as well as simultaneously being naïve and unable to let go of her past. Speaking about the villa, Hanna says “she felt safe here, half adult and half child.” [15] Although Hanna spends the majority of her time in her adult state of maternal caring, her extreme child-like moments are just as important in defining Hanna’s nature and tend to be associated with the image of light. After a game of hopscotch that is characterized by light coming from a candle, “She [Hanna] moves farther and farther away from the light…drops the chalk” as she ends her game of hopscotch and returns to the darkness that is reality. Hanna’s characterization of the English Patient as a noble “despairing saint” show her naïve desire to see the pure goodness in her patient during a war of evil who is far from that description. She creates these false hopes again with Kip as she imagines marriage to be in their future. Looking to him for safety and support, Hanna sees in Kip a sort of paternal figure who will keep fear and pain from pervading in her life.
Hanna’s adult elements circle around the fact that as a nurse she has had to experience the continuous suffering and death of her patients. She learns that she must not become emotionally attached to her patients in order to keep herself from suffering at their loss. This defense mechanism is what keeps her child side in check. At the same time, Hanna exhibits wonderful maternal instincts in her caring for the English Patient. Instead of traveling with the rest of the nurses and army, Hanna makes the dangerous decision to stay behind and care solely for her patient. Hanna’s dual nature is a product of a life full of disappointment and pain, in which she wishes to revert to to the past while welcoming the future without a hint of fear in her eyes.