Ian McEwan

as to make sense of a character’s actions and thought process; you must consider their situation and their past experiences. In the novels The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and Atonement by Ian McEwan, the central characters maintain a certain viewpoint that seems misunderstood or confusing by those around them,…

and she uses writing as a way to achieve her needs by creating worlds in which she has the ability to manipulate her characters and their outcomes. Unable to limit herself to fiction, it transcends to the real world and leads to events that unfold in Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Briony, the youngest of the Tallis children with large age gaps between them, is often alone and isolated. This loneliness causes her to be self-centered and in a constant state of fantasy. It is difficult for her to…

Sexual desire is defined as “a motivational state and an interest in sexual objects or activities, or as a wish, need, or drive to seek out sexual objects or to engage in sexual activities”, and a theme which appears to be significant in Othello, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Enduring Love. In all three, sexual desire proves to contribute in both building solidarity within relationships, and the destruction of them. For Shakespeare, sexual desire shows how concealing physical feelings can lead…

In the novel Atonement written by Ian McEwan, we as the readers learn more about the novel through interpreting the actions of the key character, Briony. At a young age Briony falsely accuses someone of a crime and spends the rest of her life trying to atone for her actions and redeem herself. Through the novel she undergoes three main actions, the false accusation, and the two main actions she undertakes to atone for her sins; joining a hospital as a nurse as penance for her sins and rewriting…

The most dangerous line in Atonement is “Her childhood had ended, she decided…” because it is in this moment Briony feels she has entered the adult world. Briony believes herself to have the power that comes with adulthood, but as the readers know, this is not true.The readers are able to differentiate the musings of a foolish girl who believes herself ready to grow up and actual maturity. At the end of this moment, even Briony questions “her own ignorance,” and clearly regrets her misguided…

The complexity of the human mind is very hard to understand. McEwan’s Atonement, is a novel beginning in 1935 when Briony Tallis, a thirteen year old girl commits a crime that sends Robbie Turner, an innocent man to jail. Consequently Briony seeks redemption and atonement throughout her live, initially during WWII and later in the late 1900’s in a form of a book that Briony writes of Robbie Turner’s and Cecilia Tallis’s undying love. On the other hand, DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers, is a story…

The book Atonement by Ian McEwan tells the stories of the lives of Briony, Robbie, and Cecilia throughout the prelude and duration of World War 2. Throughout the book the horrors of war change both the characters in the book and the reader causing them to view life in a different light having had their views altered by their experiences from the war. However, the reason why the war shapes the novel in such a significant way is due to the fact that the book is “written” by Briony, who having…

In Atonement by Ian McEwan, social classes are a central part of daily life for the Tallis family. Two classes are presented throughout the novel: the upper and lower classes. These two classifications are best represented by: Paul Marshal and Robbie Turner. Both of these characters are subject to, or display, discriminatory treatment because of their place in the social hierarchy. In Atonement, Ian McEwan utilizes social class in the main characters to demonstrate that class defines…

In the novel Atonement, McEwan shows the change of maturity and growth into adulthood and to begin a change in Briony’s’ life. Growing up, Briony has constructed a failure in rebuilding a family in an extent of breaking the Tallis’ bond, the world is built around emotional impacts and how the minds and feelings of people can begin a process of cope. Literary devices are the bond that builds the novels together in how both experience failures to communicate in the emotional impact of grief.…

In Ian McEwan’s book Atonement, a story of how a little girl with a creative imagination produces false statements that lead to accusations, division, and death, the primary narrator, Briony publishes this novel within a novel in the hope of achieving atonement for her actions. Does she? Well in the book I believe Briony thinks she has, but in my opinion, I don’t think she can achieve it fully. My reasoning, for if Briony gains atonement comes from two thought processes. At the end of this…