Date of Award
Spring 4-30-2024
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English and Linguistics
Department Chair or Program Director
Levin, Jonathan
First Advisor
Haffey, Kate
Major or Concentration
English
Abstract
Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel Atonement explores guilt, an author’s role in creating truth, and, of course, atonement. A young Briony Tallis accuses Robbie Turner of a terrible crime and later comes to question whether Robbie is the real perpetrator, but not until Robbie has already died attempting to evacuate Dunkirk. McEwan asks whether Robbie’s death is Briony’s fault and if she must atone for it. And if she must, how does she attempt to do so? This paper grapples with the questions that McEwan presents in Atonement, following Briony as she grows up and through her myriad attempts to atone for Robbie’s death. This paper pays special attention to Part IV of the novel, in which it is revealed that Briony is the author of the previous three parts, and the implications of that revelation on her previous attempt at atonement. Ultimately, it matters less whether the reader believes that Briony is guilty, and more that Briony believes herself to be guilty. She finally atones through rewriting the story of Robbie’s life.
Recommended Citation
Kile, Emily, ""The Service of Bleakest Realism": Authorship, Guilt, and Forgiveness in Ian McEwan's Atonement" (2024). Student Research Submissions. 575.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/575