The Strength Of Justice In Ian Mcewan's Atonement

McEwan: Cecilia Tallis was only the member of the Tallis family who knew Robbie was not a sexual offender, besides her younger sister Briony. After Briony had convinced the inspectors that she knew “It was [Robbie]. [She] saw him” (pg. 174, ch. 14) committing a sexual offense against Lola, the entire family banished Robbie and his mother from the house and they were no longer allowed to associate with the family ever again. However, Cecilia’s love for Robbie and his love for Cecilia was nowhere near complete or even extinguished. Even after Robbie had left for war, Cecilia cut ties with her family and wrote letters to Robbie which read, “I love you. I’ll wait for you. Come back” (pg. 201) in the hope that she could possibly see her lover’s

The Theme of Justice in The Crucible The crucible was set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is based on true facts about events that actually took place. It is about a small secluded town that relies strongly on their religion to keep them feeling safe. Their enemy is the devil and they are always scared of the devil and constantly looking for signs that the devil is there.

We are introduced to Briony Tallis at the very start of the novel, when she is preparing for cousins from the North to arrive and her older brother Leon and his friend Paul Marshall’s return, so that she can perform her play ‘The Trials of Arabella’. From this we can note that Briony is an imaginative child but we also learn that she is attention

Many people mistake justice as retribution or revenge. Seeking justice has come to mean taking matters to court and “getting even” for what the individual took or damaged. However, the true motivation for justice is to reveal the truth and reality of expressing a fair representation of fact respecting merit or demerit. In other words: even-handed treatment. The Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a genuine representation of justice, which contrasts with the epic of “Grendel”, in which there is a lack of consideration to the innocent monster.

"Atonement" by Ian McEwan Atonement comes from an "at onement", the idea being that penance and suffering allows us to be "at one" with God or ourselves. The central theme of atonement is that of seeking forgiveness. This is manifested through the characters and their actions. In the book "Atonement" by Ian McEwan, the act carried out by Briony sets of a chain of events, for which either atonement is sought or society seeks atonement from. Briony's character is described as being compulsively orderly, "She was one of those children possessed by a desire to have the world just so."

It all starts when Briony witnesses an interaction between her sister, Cecilia and Robbie Turner. Witnessed by Briony, “[Cecilia] was out of her blouse, now she had let her skirt drop to the ground and was stepping out of it, while he looked on impatiently, hands on hips. (McEwan 36)” Being very young, Briony did not understand why Cecilia stripped down to retrieve something from the bottom of the fountain. Being a bystander, she though that Robbie was forcing Cecilia to do things that she did not want to do. Briony judged the book by its cover, and jumped to a conclusion that later lead to more trouble. Well, it did not exactly help that Robbie made the biggest mistake that he could possible make at the time. Robbie realized, “The typed page, left by him near the typewriter, was the one he had taken and folded into the envelope (McEwan 890” By giving this letter to Briony, Robbie made the situation even worse, without actually know how bad it could get. Robbie did not know that Briony was already skeptical about his connection with Cecilia. If it were not for this mistake, Robbie’s life probably would not have been ruined. Even though Briony was probably going to find something else to go against Robbie, for she was set that Robbie was guilty. After all of this, Briony was still looking for that one action that would help win her case

Assumptions are necessary for us to function as humans, if we did not make assumptions we would have died out as a species long ago. In the film "Atonement", author Joe Wright tells the story of a young Briony, who has chosen to tell such a terrible lie that will forever disconnect her from her sister, happiness, and herself. This text begs the question of assumptions; why we need to understand the fallibility of them, why we need to be able to accept the consequences of them, and why we should not treat them as fact. The topic and overall meaning that this idea holds conveys a message that resonates with the idea that assumptions are sometimes a major factor in how individuals go about taking responsibility for themselves. Until an individual

Thinking that Lola’s rape is no coincidence, Briony believes it is the perfect way to expose Robbie the “maniac”. Though she only sees the silhouette of Lola’s rapist, Briony convinces herself and Lola that it was surely Robbie. She goes on to lie to the authorities, acting as a key witness providing false but seemingly true and crucial information to the case: ‘You saw him with your own eyes.’/ ‘Yes. I saw him. I saw him.’” (McEwan 181). The result is the framing and conviction of Robbie Turner, which stops any further social progression by him and exemplifies how “Robbie and Cecilia are sacrificial lambs to the gods of English social traditions” (Davis 1).

The article written by Martin Jacobi, Who Killed Robbie and Cecilia? Reading and Misreading Ian McEwan’s Atonement, is very critical and analytical about how McEwan chose to allow for misreadings in the novel Atonement, and the potential dangerous effects of allowing that. Jacobi focuses on Briony, the narrator of the novel, as the one who is the source of “Who killed Robbie and Cecilia?” It is Briony’s misreadings of situations depicted in the novel that forces Robbie to be wrongfully imprisoned, and sent off to war. Likewise, Briony wrongfully separates her sister, Cecilia, from her beloved Robbie. However, Briony knows that she is wrong in her accusations. Because of this, Briony searches for atonement. She looks to herself for atonement, through her writing. It is her “therapeutic writing” that allows Briony to forgive herself (Jacobi 62-63). He argues that at the heart of Briony’s writings are the misreadings that have continued to plague the work as a whole. Ultimately, Martini is against misreading

pass over these sins without doing justice. The shared hopes – or even why it is important

Seamus Heaney’s “Punishment” compares the humiliation of the Irish Women that fraternized with the British soldiers to the Windeby Girl’s suffering as a result of her adultery. This comparison reveals that the present is not so different from two thousand years in the past in the violent punishment of wrongdoings committed by women.

During part one, I characterised the protagonist Briony to be a naïve and confused thirteen-year-old who wrongly accused Robbie of rape which causes major conflict within my novel. To attempt to atone for this life-changing misunderstanding which sent Robbie to prison and war, Briony becomes a nurse and disregards her true aspirations of going to college. This is symbolic as in an effort to feel less guilty for being unable to help Robbie, she is helping others which "was important to her" (278). The perspective of the epilogue is mostly from Briony's point of view as she further explains her feelings of guilt through writing a novel. In Briony's novel, which is an attempt for her to exonerate Robbie and achieve forgiveness for her past mistakes, Cecelia and Robbie are happily together, in contrast to the real truth of them dying apart from each other. Due to Briony's childish actions, the pain she caused Cecelia and Robbie haunts her, so this is her attempt to fix their ending and apologise. Briony recognises that atonement "was always an impossible task" (351) and made many efforts to redeem herself, however, her actions were too horrible to ever be forgiven. Therefore, no, I don't believe that Briony was successful in achieving Atonement even though she spent a lifetime attempting to atone for the guilt that overtook

When the confused Luc asks “Did she [your sister] finally marry that man she was so in love with?”, close shots of Briony’s face are used to convey the overwhelming guilt she feels for her own sister Cecilia, as she is the reason for her failed love. Luc’s death is also foreshadowing the death of Robbie later in the film. Guilt is also felt by Briony in her old age, as she narrates in her television interview “My sister and Robbie were never able to have the time together they both so longed for, and deserved. Which ever since I've... I've always felt I prevented”.

The author always decides what happens and all loose ends can be tied as they see fit. This is evident when she claims to see Robbie rape Lola. It fits her suspicions of the family servant, which she comes up with throughout the day as she observes Robbie and Cecelia relationship. Without bothering to know the truth, she concludes that her crush must be a sexual predator. Robbie raping Lola makes for a good story without any plot holes and Briony plays the hero. Sadly, this is not reality and even in her old age, and supposed wisdom, Briony still cannot help herself from pretending to be God. “So in the book, I wanted to give Robbie and Cecilia what they lost out on in life. I'd like to think this isn't weakness or... evasion... but a final act of kindness. I gave them their happiness” (Atonement). Briony never truly learns or understands of the consequences of her actions. When she has the opportunity to achieve some sort of atonement for her terrible sin, on television, Briony fails miserably. Instead of telling nothing but the truth, she convinces herself that by giving Robbie and Cecilia a life together in ink, she has somehow made it real. In the end Briony only deceives herself, exposing her weakness to the world while managing to remain oblivious to

means of atonement one can become guilt free. In the novel ‘The kite Runner’ the author, Khaled