Atonement Flashcards
(27 cards)
Themes and quotes
7
Guilt
“the truth is I let her down / I was the one who didn’t understand”
-Reflects Briony’s deep sense of guilt and acknowledges her role in the events that led to Robbie’s conviction
Class
“they knew each other well, knew everything about each other, and had nothing in common.”
-From Briony’s narration the quote captures her misunderstanding of their relationship and her inability to see past class distinctions.
Perspective
“you don’t understand. You’re not listening.”
-Briony’s frustration with other’s inability to understand her POV highlights the subjective nature of reality.
Lost Innocence
“She was one of those children possessed by a desire to have the world just so.”
-shows Briony’s youthful idealism and desire for control, which ultimately leads her to make a terrible mistake
Power of Story telling
“a story is a weapon, and it is not just the words that matter but how you use them”
-Briony recognises that stories hold immense power to alter lives and can be used for harm or healing.
Regret
“it was not wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy it was confusion and misunderstanding”
-This is a pivotal moment of self awareness and regret for Briony as she failed to see Robbie and Cecilia as real people with lives.
Power
“how can a writer achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God?”
-Briony realises her god-like power as a writer as she can manipulate events, rewrite endings and offer redemption that she was denied.
Love
“Come back, come back to me.”
– Cecilia’s note to Robbie, a haunting refrain symbolizing longing and interrupted love.
Context
Who is the author?
Ian McEwan
When was he born and how is it influential?
1948
-born into a military family
-this gave him early exposure to global conflict / post war tensions
How did his father influence the novel?
His father was an army officer and influenced vivid descriptions of the Dunkirk evacuation in the novel.
What modernist writer interested McEwan?
Virginia Woolf
-her stylistic fingerprints are all over the shifting perspective and introspection parts of the novel
When does the novel begin?
1935
-this section focuses on the events leading up to the accusation.
-the setting reflects the rigid class structure of the time as Robbie is socially inferior to Cecilia, despite their love.
What date does the narrative shift to?
1940
-WW2 when Robbie is a soldier
-The war serves as a backdrop for personal and national loss, trauma and struggle for redemption
What date is the final section?
1999
-Where elderly Briony reflects on her past highlighting themes of memory, truth and the power of storytelling
-The modern day setting contrasts with the earlier periods showing how history is reconstructed through narrative.
What is a key driving force of the plot?
Class Divisions
Example of class divisions being a key driving force of the plot?
Robbie’s lower status makes him an easy target to blame, despite his potential and intelligence
How are gender roles presented in the novel?
-Women’s options were still limited in the 1930’s
-Evident in how Cecilia’s choices are shaped by societal expectations
-Evident in how Briony navigates becoming a nurse
How is the justice system presented in the novel?
-Briony’s accusation reflects how the justice system often favoured the word of the upper class over actual evidence, especially in cases involving women
What are modernist and postmodern influences of the novel?
-Modernism was prominent in the early 20th century, characterised by introspection, fragmented narratives, and a focus on subjective reality. McEwan draws on this, in the first part of Atonement.
-Postmodernism, emerging after WWII, embraces meta-narratives, unreliable narrators, and questions about fiction vs. reality, all central to Atonement’s structure.
What are the Modernist Influences of the novel?
Interior Monologue- McEwan explores characters’ inner thoughts in long, flowing prose
Subjective reality- Briony misinterprets events due to her limited perspective this is central to the plot
Moral Responsibility- Briony’s guilt and desire for redemption are explored in a morally complex way, example of modernist introspection.
What are the Postmodern Influences of the novel?
Metafiction- Briony being the author of the novel, brings in the idea of storytelling as a form of power and maybe even deceit
Unreliable Narration- Briony’s role as both character and narrator makes her unreliable.
Questioning of Truth- Postmodern works often blur lines between fact and fiction.
