Good morning, today I am going to talk about the ability to learn from mistakes. I’ve based my oral presentation on the novel “Atonement” by Ian McEwan. It can be said that it is in the nature of all of us, human beings, to make mistakes. Of course, there are different kinds of mistakes; there are some that are innocent and harmless and others that can affect ourselves and/ or other people’s lives. Still, it is mainly by making this second type of mistakes that we can learn important life lessons. They can help us to identify our flaws, and thus help us mature and achieve personal growth. Yet, not everybody may be able to learn from mistakes. This seems to be the case of Briony Tallis, one of the main characters of the novel “Atonement” by …show more content…
Even though Briony undeniably felt remorse for what she had done and tried to atone for what she did, she actually did not take a strong course of action to mend things. As we get to know in the last part of the novel, Briony never really went to see her sister to try to mend her mistake, and thus we can deduce that she also probably did not talk with her parents in order to clean Robbie’s reputation, which she had seriously damaged. Thus, we can say that the only thing that Briony did to atone for her “sin” was to write this book and give Cecilia and Robbie the possibility to end up together and fulfill their love, even when she herself admitted that there is “no atonement for God, or novelists”. Briony also explained that “she could not do that to them”, that is to say, she could not prevent them from fulling their love, at least in her novel. Still, it becomes evident that she actually did nothing to correct her mistake, which would have entailed a demonstration of real regret and of a real change and maturation in …show more content…
For instance, like the young Briony that was unable to put herself in another person’s place, the older Briony kept displaying this selfish and arrogant type of behavior. An example of this occurs when she came across the aged Lola and Robert, she did not stop to think about their lives or feelings but only thought about how many years more it would take to publish her book as this couple should be dead before publishing it for a question of avoiding legal problems. Briony realized that “she would outlive Robert, yet Lola will definitely outlive her”. Also, Briony unconsciously admitted her lack of change when she expressed when reflecting about herself “that busy, priggish, conceited little girl [...]was not dead…”. Thus, despite all the years that passed, Briony was incapable to achieve enough maturation to rectify her
Sedaris paints an image of a man who could not sleep at night with all the guilts he has. Therefore, he has to sneak down to the kitchen to talk with his friend. He stayed up all night as the author tells his readers: “The clock reads 3:00 A.M., then 4:00, then 5:00, as he sits before the brilliant bird repeating slowly and clearly the words, “Forgive me. Forgive me: Forgive me.” (451). His audiences are reading a happy and fun story. Suddenly, Sedaris changes the mood and the tones at the end. This makes his readers think more deeply about the story. The author feels guilty with his sister. He feels that he has done wrong to Lisa. However, the apologize coming out from his mouth will be meaningless. Therefore, he tries to teach Henry to say sorry for him. The audiences can also see a picture of a man confessing his sin to the priest and ask for
In FYS we were taught many ways to live in the world through the stories we read, speeches we listen to, and the projects we did. In the book, Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger, The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, and Destiny of The Republic, by Candice Millard, I saw a few prominent themes of how one should live. In these three books I learned about the author 's voice through their writings. I saw how one should live their life. In these books the authors shared common themes through their writings. The authors showed how to live life with forgiveness and live life with faith. Krueger and Potok both showed me through their novels how to forgive someone and they did this by showing that there is a bigger picture in
Forgiveness is letting go of all the negative feelings toward another. In The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls show countless times that she doesn’t hold her parents accountable for the countless things that they have done. There are moments where her parents made her feel dreadful, but in the end, she finds a way to forgive them. Sammy Rangel, the founder of Formers Anonymous, stated, “We do not have to be victims of our own stories...but interestingly enough stories are a way out [our suffering]. We hold the power to change our story.” Walls overlooked all of the heinous actions her
Some people to this day still think that people can’t change or that a reputation lasts forever, but sometimes people just can’t forget the past. In The Scarlet Letter the young
Though she suffers for seven long years, she never actually repents, but falls into adultery once again. She is defiant to the Puritan way and the commandment forbidding adultery, not only physically but in her heart as well. By the end of the book, a reader can observe that she never repents, but liberally deceives herself and society. In contrast, Dimmesdale eventually realizes that confession is necessary to repentance, in addition to denying himself any adulteress thoughts or acts.
In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” the theme is something very intense to think about. Sometimes, by the time we realize what we have done wrong, we can no longer fix the mistake; people have dealt with this sort of conflict in their lives before, many times. Personally, I have dealt with situations like this before in my lifetime. It’s difficult, because by the time we realize our fault, it’s too late to repair the damage.
Briony Tallis: Briony Tallis is the protagonist of Atonement. Though Briony has two older siblings, Leon and Cecilia, they are both at least ten years her senior. Therefore, Briony grows up virtually as an only child and as a result is quite self-centered. Briony is introduced to readers when she is working on her play The Trials of Arabella. Through Briony’s writing process and inner thoughts, readers are made aware of her obsession with order and control. This obsession combined with her self-absorbed mindset fosters Briony’s unaware naïveté. Briony believes that she understands everything that occurs around her, when in reality, she cannot understand adult concepts and ideas that do not yet pertain to her. It is this obliviousness that leads to her rape accusations against Robbie—Briony is unable to see the love between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie, the servant’s son. Once Briony matures, she begins to realize the depth of the consequences of her actions, and throws herself into atoning her “sins.” In doing so, she writes her own novel involving a couple that represents Robbie and Cecilia, and feels that she can relieve herself of guilt by admitting to her wrongdoings and rewriting the fates of the two lovers. However, the novel simply paints Briony’s naïveté in a new light—though she has grown up, she is still unaware of the dire
No human being on this earth is entirely without flaw or sin, and so, many people often struggle with how they should deal with these wrongdoings and misdeeds; should one accept what they have done wrong and do everything in their power to atone for it, taking the path of higher morality despite how difficult it may be? Or should one neglect to make amends and simply hide their sins because it is easier not to take responsibility? The way that Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the characters in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, who take these opposing routes in dealing with their sins, would strongly suggest that he, himself, believes that reconciliation is the best way to go about dealing with situations such as the ones he places his characters in, and the ones that we, as people, face every day in our actual lives.
To begin, in part one of “Atonement” we learn who each character is through the perspective of different characters. Alongside we get the unique perspective of several scenes that take place. One very important scene is the fountain scene where Robbie and Cecilia are filling a vase with water and Robbie causes the vase to slip out of Cecilia’s hands breaks some pieces falling into the fountain. Cecilia acts fast and removes her clothing in order to retrieve the vase piece. Meanwhile, you have Briony wondering her room and happens to see the two conversing and is shocked to see Cecilia remove her clothes. Briony begins to assume things instantly “ The Triton fountain, and standing by the basin’s retaining wall was her sister, and right before her was Robbie Turner. There was something rather formal about the way he stood, feet apart, head held back. A proposal of marriage. Briony would not have been surprised. She herself had written a tale in which a humble woodcutter saved a princess from drowning and ended by marrying her. What was presented here fitted well. Robbie Turner” (36). Here Briony is only able to see the interactions between Robbie and Cecilia but she can’t necessarily hear anything but, it doesn’t impede her
To begin, the naïvety and distorted views of reality that Briony Tallis possess reveals her inability to understand the meaning of justice. Briony, who is only thirteen at the time, “views the adult world from a child’s perspective, seeing adult acts through the lense of melodrama” (“Atonement” 7). As result, in reading Robbie’s letter she immediately “[casts] herself as her sister’s protector” (McEwan 115), and thus imagines that Robbie is attacking Cecilia in the library. This can be seen in her perception that Cecilia’s forearm “was raised
228) in relation to the way that she is not able to rid herself of the way she separated two lovers. Briony had previously confessed to Robbie when she was ten-years-old, as revealed by Robbie’s thoughts in part 2 of the novel. “He had betrayed her love by favouring her [Briony’s] sister,” (pg. 233) which means Briony could have accused Robbie of rape to separate Cecilia from him. She did not feel guilty until she grew older and began to consider the complexity of her allegation. The war may take Robbie away from Cecilia and leave her devastated all because of a mistake Briony made. In addition, she will never be able to witness the lovers reuniting and may never be able to atone for her mistakes after all. Like a room without a door, she will not be able to escape the fact that she separated two
Briony only starts to realise her crime as she grows older. In a letter to Robbie, Cecelia paraphrases a letter from Briony, "She's beginning to get the full grasp of what she did I think she wants to recant." When Briony goes to visit Cecelia, the reader comprehends that Briony doesn't want to withdraw her statement for Robbie's benefit but instead to find favour with her sister and to reassemble her previous family life: " 'I don't expect you to forgive me.' 'Don't worry about that", she said soothingly, Briony flinched as her hopes lifted unreally. ' Don't worry', her sister resumed.
Ian McEwan shows that guilt can stay with an individual for a lifetime. Briony knows the night of the rape that she had not seen the perpetrator clearly. In her mind, she has, but the truth
In “The Scarlet Letter,” Hawthorne presents the consequences of sin as an important aspect in the lives of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingsworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale. The sin committed, adultery, between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale had resulted in the birth of their innocent little girl, Pearl. This sin ruined the three main characters’ lives completely in different ways. With the sin committed, there were different ways the characters reacted to it: embracing the sin, concealing the sin, and becoming obsessed and consumed with it. With each reaction to the sin there were also different actions of redemption.
It is not always strenuous to acknowledge when a mistake is made for some, in fact it can be seen as a challenge. Especially for adults and adolescents confessing when a mistake is made is nearly impossible. Yet everyone male, female, young and old make mistakes. It is natural for a person to make multitudinous mistakes throughout their lifetime. In the book Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat the main character, Sophie Caco, has a laborious time confessing to her selfish mistakes leading to her being torn between her self love and love with her husband.. For someone to admit to his or her mistakes to themselves may feel as if he or she was irrational.