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Examples Of Egotism In Atonement

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The Tragedy of Egotism and Misunderstanding Atonement has a great deal of underlying tragedy underneath what seems will be the main tragedy of the novel. On the outside without heavy analysis it may seem that Robbie getting accused of rape and the death of Robbie and Cecilia would be the main tragedies. However, this is only true to a certain extent because if the reader takes a close look more tragedy can be found. The main tragedy which involves Briony is the misunderstanding Briony has towards other people and the misunderstand other characters have towards Briony. Briony misunderstood Robbie’s motives with Cecilia which was when the rape accusation happened. So it is the miscommunication of these two characters, which is the real tragedy. …show more content…

So the real tragedy in Atonement and other tragic novels is not the plot point it but rather when the reader has some form of information that the characters does not have. This causes frustration because the reader knows the outcome of the rape accusation could have been different if both Robbie and Briony were on the same page. So the tragedy in Atonement comes from the misunderstanding between characters and Briony and vice versa rather than the plot point themselves. The main tragedy of Atonement is no the tragic events themselves but rather the misunderstanding characters, specifically Robbie have towards Briony and her actions. The characters are set up to think that Briony is an egotistical person who only cares about herself. However, she if very misunderstood because all she wants to do is to fit in with adults. She grows up in an environment where acting prim and proper is so important so it is no surprise she wants to drop her kid status, “Briony felt the disadvantage of being two years younger than the other girl, of having a full two years' refinement weigh against her, and now her play seemed a miserable, embarrassing thing. (4)” She never strives to make

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