“When an airplane’s engine fail, it is not the end of the flight. Airplanes don’t fall out of the sky like stones. They glide on… only to smash themselves up when they attempt a landing. The passengers don’t notice a thing… That summer was the glide path of our love.”
This quote sums up the fact that Michael and Hanna are involved in an unreal relationship. During this reading there were many parts that proved this point. Their relationship is only about bathing and sex. Whenever Michael tries to talk about Hanna’s day at work or what she does in her free time she just ask him why he asks all those silly questions. The boy is 15 and cannot possibly be in love. This is the only girl he has been with and she is twice his age and he knows very little about her personality. This quote symbolizes their sexual relationship going well but there will be one event that causes a slow downfall. Michael is getting annoyed that he continually has to take the blame and submit to Hanna every time she gets angry and upset. He even says at one point that he is beginning to resent her. Add in the fact that Michael is more comfortable in his classroom and has met Sophie and there is room for trouble. This all comes to the forefront when Michael sees Hanna for the first unplanned time at the pool. When Michael is confused about whether he should ignore her or run to her, Hanna disappears and moves out of her apartment, leaving Michael without a path to follow. The engine blew when Michael began to hang out with his friends from school and did not want to leave them to go see Hanna, but neither he nor her was expecting the relationship to end in one moment.
