Secrecy, trickery and tales in Atonement
Fri 05 November 2010
Roseanna Langmead, Bachelor of Journalism
Ian McEwan's Atonement is a novel which brings together love, crime, mystery and war through an original and captivating plot.
Back-flashes, multiple perspectives, secrecy, trickery and tales lead the reader through intricate events as the main character, Briony Tallis, seeks atonement for a foolish mistake made in the English summer of 1935.
Briony, a young aspiring writer, accuses the family gardener (her sister’s lover Robbie Turner) of a crime he did not commit, resulting in his being sent to jail.
Part two sees England at war, Robbie as a soldier and both Briony and her sister Cecelia working as nurses.
Accounts both in England and Dunkirk work to show the reader the real implications of Briony’s crime and her attempts at atonement.
After ruining Robbie’s life and being rejected by her sister, Briony seeks forgiveness from both.
In part three, the reader is led to believe that finally Robbie and Cecelia can be together and that Briony has been forgiven.
However, after chapters telling of Briony’s apologies and attempts to reconcile with her sister and Robbie, the reader has again been tricked...both Robbie and Cecelia have died and Briony never found forgiveness.
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