Interviewer: Atonement is partly about guilt. You’ve said that a novel can look at all sides of a question and it can refuse to take sides. Nevertheless we are encouraged in Atonement to take sides, partly because the narrator turns out to have been part of the story, and is therefore partial. What is the significance that the ‘atonement,’—the nearest Briony, as a non-believer, can get to ‘atonement’—may be inaccurate?
Ian McEwan: May I ask you a question? What makes you think the “atonement” Briony Tallis seeks may be inaccurate?
Interviewer: Well after reading the epilogue we learn that Briony never actually saw Robbie and Cecelia that day in 1940. Briony never had the chance to make things right with them. The atonement Briony achieved is nothing more than a constructed dialogue. Would you not say that makes her …show more content…
Which pans out in the worst way with Briony walking in on them and misinterpreting the entire thing, ultimately leading to Robbie’s wrongful conviction. Consequences. Or the way the the violence and gore of war forever change Robbie, Cecilia, and Briony’s lives. The biggest difference between violence and sex being highest consequence of violence is death, something Robbie found out the hard way.
Interviewer: What are the differences between sex and violence that is artistic and that which is exploitative or gratuitous?
Ian McEwan: For scenes like that to be deemed artistic they must serve a purpose in driving the central plot line forward. Simple as that. Anything else is sex for the sake of sensuality and violence for the sake of gore. If it's not relevant it's not needed.
Interviewer: Last question, if you were to teach this novel to adept high school readers, what would you tell them to pay attention to increase their aesthetic appreciation of
Ian McEwan: May I ask you a question? What makes you think the “atonement” Briony Tallis seeks may be inaccurate?
Interviewer: Well after reading the epilogue we learn that Briony never actually saw Robbie and Cecelia that day in 1940. Briony never had the chance to make things right with them. The atonement Briony achieved is nothing more than a constructed dialogue. Would you not say that makes her …show more content…
Which pans out in the worst way with Briony walking in on them and misinterpreting the entire thing, ultimately leading to Robbie’s wrongful conviction. Consequences. Or the way the the violence and gore of war forever change Robbie, Cecilia, and Briony’s lives. The biggest difference between violence and sex being highest consequence of violence is death, something Robbie found out the hard way.
Interviewer: What are the differences between sex and violence that is artistic and that which is exploitative or gratuitous?
Ian McEwan: For scenes like that to be deemed artistic they must serve a purpose in driving the central plot line forward. Simple as that. Anything else is sex for the sake of sensuality and violence for the sake of gore. If it's not relevant it's not needed.
Interviewer: Last question, if you were to teach this novel to adept high school readers, what would you tell them to pay attention to increase their aesthetic appreciation of