atonement themes

guilt/atonement - The theme of guilt, forgiveness, and atonement should be extremely obvious to anyone who reads the book. The entire plot of the novel centers on a woman who devotes her entire life repenting a crime she committed while still a young girl. Articles of note that are not as obvious to the reader that have to do with this theme are things like, is Briony the only person who should feel guilty? Who else is at fault for the crime committed on that hot summer night in 1935? Where is Lola's guilt for not saying anything? What about Paul Marshall's--the real assailant who gets away with rape and stands silent while an innocent man goes to prison. Then there are all the adults in Part One of the novel. How is it that so many people who are capable of understanding so much more than a thirteen-year-old girl come to rely completely on her testimony? Should more not have been done in the investigation? The question is left open at the end of the book. Does Briony finally achieve
literary tradition - Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" marked a new literary form in Romanticism literature in that it was a story, inside a story, inside a story. At the very centre of the notable novel, the monster is telling his story in the first person to his creator who is telling his story to a ship captain who is writing his story to his sister who is the author of the book. Ian McEwan's "Atonement" plays with this layered-tradition: a story being told by one of the characters (not revealed until the end) in the third person, that shifts to the first person in the final section of the book when the reader realizes who the narrator is. During this chapter, we learn the story was told through letters between Cecilia and Robbie, and even correspondence between Corporal Nettles and Briony. It leaves the question very open: Whose story is this? That is the exact point Briony (or is it McEwan?) is trying to draw out. Who is capable of telling a complete story about "what really happene
perception/ misunderstanding - What happens in "Atonement" is all created by the imagination to misperceive observation. Briony is at a point where she is too young to fully grasp the adult world she is quickly becoming a part of, yet old enough to presume she understands her social environment on a mature level. This wavering, transient positioning in her psychological development, along with the circumstances she happens to observe (the fountain scene, the letter, the library scene, and the rape) all lead to a misappropriation of her emotions. Briony is still a child, there is no arguing that. Her obsession with order, her fantasizing about playwriting and fencing, and the seriousness with which she takes her play all represent her at a point where she is too young to see the world beyond her own existence. This flaw is not her fault. It is a part of the psychological maturing process. Notice how so much of the action takes place in a state where some senses are obstructed or absen
innocence - Arguments can be made on where the exact point is that Briony "loses her innocence." There are a few moments in Part One that can be attributed to such a notion: Was it when she saw the scene at the fountain? When she gives up on her play? When she reads the letter from Robbie to Cecilia? When she mistakenly observes Robbie and Cecilia making love in the library? When she witnesses Lola's rape? Or when she officially accuses Robbie of the assault to authorities? Each one of these is a plausible response. What is certain, however, is that somewhere during Part One of the novel, Briony ceases to exist as a protected child in this world and enters the exposed world of adulthood. The narration of part one, which we learn later to be Briony herself, holds nothing back in informing the reader of this post-awareness. Briony the character is too young to realize it at the time. She is caught in between world's. Look at the moment when the search parties take flight after the twin
war - It is not typical to say that "war" is a theme in any book, but it is a very important part of "Atonement" and something that needs to be addressed as a separate component to the overall themes of the book. Ian McEwan is a known activist against war and as a writer who takes a personal interest in World War Two history. His father was a Major in the British Armed Forces and McEwan grew up in different areas of the world, in Army camps, while his father was serving his duties. There is an irony that Robbie Turner must fight in the war to exonerate himself from a crime he did not commit. This highlights the injustices of any war. As much as the story is a fictional tale, the scenes that involve the war, both in France in Part Two and in the hospitals in London in Part Three, are historically accurate. In particular, the horrors that the British Army faced as they awaited evacuation on the beaches of Dunkirk and the German planes continued their assault, is captured in extraordina
social class - The inequities and injustices of social class appear throughout the novel. The most obvious example is the relationship between Robbie Turner, son of the Tallis charwoman, and Cecilia Tallis, daughter of the ministry-employed and wealthy Jack Tallis. Recall that it is because Briony thinks her older sister is in grave danger of falling beneath her class that she sets out to protect her. Placing social distinction above love is common sense for Briony, and her condemnation of Robbie proves this faculty to hold up in the courts. As for Cecilia, she is the only character in the story to deal with these issues head on. After realizing her unfair behavior towards Robbie while at Cambridge together, Cecilia has the courage to announce her love for him when she defends the letter being passed around the living room for all to read as evidence of Robbie's "sex-maniac" ways. Even when he is arrested, she stands by him, and soon thereafter disowns her family to become a nurse liv
identity - Here is a question to ask: Who is Briony Tallis? Is she a child criminal? A repenting nurse? A writer? All of them? Is she a good person? An evil person? Any novel that stretches over a sixty-five year period is going to observe the characters go though periods of change and development. But "Atonement" works on a different level when it comes to identity as a theme. Briony Tallis has the imagination to make herself anything. When the story opens she is Briony the serious child, Briony the famous writer, and Arabella, the star of a play she has just written. Whenever Briony is upset, she wanders by herself to water, where she can daydream into any persona she wishes--a murderer, fencing champion, successful author (notice the water motif for this--a formless element). In Part Three of the book, Briony has become a nurse, but she is given a badge with an incorrect first initial. She has been completely emasculated by the war and her social condition, as well as her guilt.

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