Guilt In Atonement

To what extent are the protagonists of ‘Atonement’ and ‘The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead’ similar and different?

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

Whilst in conversation with Lola, Briony’s cousin, Briony tells her of all the events involving Robbie so far, this conveys once more that Briony is a meddling child as she is telling false accusations to people who are not involved in the situation. We can also evidence once more of Briony attention seeking as she had a ‘desire to share a secret and show the older girl that she too had worldly experiences’. Lola further urges Briony’s imagination and makes her belief that Robbie is a ‘maniac’ and could ‘attack anyone’. Following this we can see that not only is Briony immature but she is also ignorant of what is happening and would still rather belief the story that she is building. We can see this when Briony reflects on the memories she had of Robbie as child when he would ‘carry her on his back’ and when he ‘taught her one summer how to tread water and breast stroke’, and instead she perceives these innocent acts to be dangerous as Briony said he ‘pretended to be a beast’ and that ‘she had been alone with him many times at the swimming hole’. These acts would make Robbie seem untrustworthy to a child because beasts are a common factor in children’s nightmares and the thought of a man being

Barb blames Janice for Anne's death to hurt her and make her feel guilty, not knowing that Janice already feels guilty but does not express it. However, Barb does not think about the challenges Janice might have endured but is angry because she is not the ‘ideal Janice’ that she had been expecting. Barb is too busy and eager wanting to express her anger towards Janice that she cannot relate to Janice’s problems and the struggles that she goes through. Barb’s lack of sympathy towards the unexpected changes in Janice’s life only results in a bigger gap in their relationship. Once Barb and Janice start talking, Barb is again angered by Janice’s quietness and her unwillingness to strengthen their relationship. However, she does not make an effort herself to understand why. Barb says to Janice: “You told us the facts. I don’t know one damn thing about you, the person” (36). Barb is annoyed and frustrated by Janice keeping to herself, she cannot understand her. Barb wants a strong relationship with her as sisters. For Janice, the sister relationship is too difficult and would rather prefer being friends. However, Barb does not acknowledge or accept Janice’s different views but expects Janice to want the same. Barb misunderstands the quietness of Janice and takes it personally, thinking that she wants to keep a distance from her and does not want to open up. Barb does not think of the opposite. What if Janice can’t

Briony is at a point where she is just too young to wholly seize the grownup world she is quickly becoming part of, yet old enough to presume she is aware her social atmosphere on a mature degree. This wavering, transient positioning in her psychological progress, together with the instances she happens to become aware of (the fountain scene, the letter, the library scene, and the rape) all result in a misappropriation of her emotions. Briony is still a baby, 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 signify her at a point where she is simply too young to peer the arena beyond her possess existence. This flaw shouldn 't be her fault. It is a part of the psychological maturing process. Also how so much of the action takes place in a state where some senses are obstructed or absent while others are available. Briony can "see" the incident between Cecilia

The consequences of Charlotte’s change in behaviour weigh heavily on her mind. Miss Hancock is killed, and Charlotte is left in emotional distress as she feels guilty for her death. It is because of how Charlotte now treats Miss Hancock, that she feels guilt. Charlotte feels that she “could have said something. Like thank you for grade 7.” (6) Charlotte feels that a comment such as this would have left Miss Hancock feeling welcomed and loved again. But it is because of the pressures of the classroom that results in Charlotte avoiding speaking kindly of Miss Hancock. As a comment such as this could have definitely turned her into a target of the class as well. Additionally, Charlotte is left in emotional distress after Miss Hancock’s death. Charlotte “stayed home…[and] kept having periods of uncontrollable weeping.” (6) This is a result of Charlotte’s love for Miss Hancock, and her inability to be there for Miss Hancock when she needed her most because of how she was being treated. The social environment of the class prevented Charlotte from indulging in Miss Hancock’s glitzy teaching methods. Her behaviour was forced in to change at that time, because of the hostile environment that her

Beth’s nonchalant attitude towards Conrad becomes increasingly obvious and begins to really frustrate him, ultimately leading him to lash out at her, “ ‘listen, don’t give me that, the only reason you care, the only reason you give a fuck about it is because someone else knew about it first! You never wanted to know anything I was doing or anything I wasnt doing’ ” (Guest: 110). It is evident that Conrad constantly tries to spark conversations with his mother hoping that she will give him her undivided attention, but it only results in him feeling as though he is a burden. The emotional detachment from his mother forces him to distance himself from his entire family thinking that it would some how make Beth happy. Instead of forcing himself to deal with his mom’s distant attitude he exclaims, “I know why she never came out there, not once! I know! Hell she was going to goddamn Spain and goddamn Portugal, why should she care if I was hung up by the goddamn balls,” revealing that he knows his mom has abandoned him as a son and has to deal with the fact that he is not the favorite son in the family. He also comes to the realization that his mom is constantly trying to run away from the responsibility of parenting and is still unable to show any kind of affection to her son who just tried to commit suicide. Rather than asking how Conrad is feeling, she plays victim as if Conrad has rejected her and

After Transformation and Atonement, the hero faces the final stage of his journey: The Return to everyday life. Upon the return, the hero discovers his gifts – One becomes richer and stronger – perhaps a great leader - and spiritually enlightened. The hero shares the gift/treasure of experience, knowledge, and wisdom - gained through the journey – with the broader community.

Guilt is a raw instinctive emotion of the human nature. Is there a general way through human beings and all other forms of life would be distinguished from one another. Both humans and other forms of life on earth have the element of life, the element of survival. Through feeding and excretion they are both similar. In almost every aspect of life for both human and other forms of life, they are identical to each other. If for example, both did not feed, their fate would be equally the same. Through the theory of evolution of man, it is argued that he evolved from the most basic form of life and over the years evolved in what he is today, a prime being, at the top of the list. But what differentiates the two apart. Intellectuality and the ability to use reason is the very fundamental difference between human beings and other forms of life. Having intellect means the ability to use reason to make decisions and choices. There however, is a difference between choices. Choices could either be voluntary or involuntary. Actions that are made through involuntary choices could be termed as the raw instincts elements of man, some of which could probably be compared to those of animals and other living organisms. On the other hand, there are actions that are based on voluntary choices, actions that an individual knows their consequence but goes on to do them.

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.

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

This attitude towards the facts – and Briony’s editing of the truth despite her claims that she has “regarded it as [her] duty to disguise nothing” (369) – is the very thing that prevents her from achieving atonement. For one thing, Briony admits that she is “too old, too frightened” (371) to not give

The maturation and growth of each character is displayed with the imagery of each transition. Cecelia recognizes the shift in Briony’s expression of frustration with her, as she “smoothed the jagged triangle of paper and thought how her little sister was changing... addressing Briony’s problems

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

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