Narrative Perspective

Different Narrative Perspectives in Atonement

McEwan plays with the idea of perspective throughout Atonement. We see events from different perspectives, particularly in Part One, and at times see the same event from different points of view.

Different perspectives on events

Seeing the same event from different points of view forces the reader to piece together the ‘truth’ from different perspectives which are often in conflict with each other because characters interpret these events very differently.
The reader is almost placed in the role of detective, continually re-evaluating the available evidence to create a coherent and truthful version of events.

Emily: "all knowing"

The reader’s task is complicated by the fact that perspective often plays tricks on us and a character’s understanding of events may be deeply flawed.
- E.g. in Chapter 6, Emily Tallis lies in bed and tries to recreate the world around her from interpreting the noises she hears in various rooms and corridors in the house. Emily sees herself as possessing a “sixth sense” which makes her “all-knowing” about the comings and goings in the household: “She lay in the dark and knew everything” (p66).

Emily's misinterpretations

However, McEwan shows us the limits of Emily’s perspective and just how mistaken her perception is – she misreads Lola’s squeal of laughter heard from the library as perfectly innocent and then badly misjudges the character of Paul Marshall, speculating that he “may not be such a bad sort” (p67).
Emily misinterprets the world around her and does not see the danger that Marshall poses.

Events from Different Points of View in Atonement

We see the fountain scene from Cecilia and Briony's points of view and the library scene from Briony and Robbie's points of view.

Fountain scene: Cecilia & Briony

In Chapters 2 and 3, we see the same event (the scene by the fountain) from two different points of view – Cecilia’s and then Briony’s. When this scene is ‘replayed’ in Chapter 3, Briony is unable to hear the conversation between Cecilia and Robbie and so invents a storyline which makes sense to her.

Briony's melodramatic narrative

However, Briony’s version of the scene is full of melodrama, involving a proposal of marriage and the threat of blackmail, just like the stories she has written.
This distorted version of reality will eventually lead to Robbie’s arrest the following morning.

Robbie's perspective (Chapter 8)

To add to the complexity, we revisit the scene by the fountain in Chapter 8, this time from Robbie’s perspective as he puzzles over Cecilia’s behaviour. Robbie comes up with his own version of events, one in which Cecilia steps into the fountain to embarrass him: “Of course. He saw it clearly now. The idea was to humiliate him.” Each new perspective adds a new layer of understanding to our understanding of events.

Briony's perspective: library

We again see different perspectives of the same event in Chapters 10 and 11 when Cecilia and Robbie making love in the library is seen from Briony’s, and then Robbie’s point of view.
Briony’s misreading of what she has witnessed is seen in her childish perception of it as “an attack, a hand-to-hand fight” (p123) because of the extremity of Robbie’s and Cecilia’s passion: (“He had pushed his body… gripping her hair… had trapped her”). This will lead Briony and Lola to view Robbie as a “maniac” or “monster” when they read his obscene words to Cecilia.

Briony's perspective on the search

Briony’s perspective is also seen as flawed when she is out searching for the twins. Alone and surrounded by darkness, her imagination begins to play tricks on her, with the narrative explicitly stating that she is vulnerable to “some trick of darkness or perspective” (p164).

Focalisation Through Robbie & Briony's Narrative

Part Two is focalised through Robbie so that we see the horrors of war from his perspective. The initials and date at the end of Part Three are significance.

Focalising as Robbie

Part Two is focalised through Robbie so that we see the horrors of war from his perspective.
The narrative shows Robbie to be suffering from trauma, troubled by the memories of atrocities he has witnessed and we see his exhaustion when the narrative emphasises each individual step he takes: “He walked / across / the land / until / he came / to the sea” (p219).
The narrative begins to resemble a stream of consciousness in the closing pages of this section as Robbie’s infected wound causes him to become feverish.

Significance of initials & date

At the end of Part Three, the initials and date indicate that it has been written by an older Briony, forcing us to re-evaluate everything we have just read.
The revelation in Part Four that the reunion in Part Three did not happen and that Robbie in fact died in Dunkirk further disorientates the reader. We are confronted with the uncomfortable fact that Briony, like “God”, has the power to reshape reality as she pleases.

1Introduction to Atonement

1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement

1.1.1Background to the Author - Ian McEwan

1.1.2Settings & Historical Context of Atonement

1.1.3Social Issues Raised in Atonement

1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts

1.2.1Atonement as a Crime Text

2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One

2.1Chapter 1

2.1.1Chapter 1: Key Events

2.1.2Chapter 1: Key Themes

2.2Chapter 2

2.2.1Chapter 2: Key Events

2.2.2Chapter 2: Key Themes

2.3Chapter 3

2.3.1Chapter 3: Key Events

2.3.2Chapter 3: Key Themes

2.4Chapter 4

2.4.1Chapter 4: Key Events

2.4.2Chapter 4: Key Themes

2.5Chapter 5

2.5.1Chapter 5: Key Events

2.5.2Chapter 5: Key Themes

2.6Chapter 6

2.6.1Chapter 6: Key Events & Themes

2.7Chapter 7

2.7.1Chapter 7: Key Events

2.7.2Chapter 7: Key Themes

2.8Chapter 8

2.8.1Chapter 8: Key Events

2.8.2Chapter 8: Key Themes

2.9Chapter 9

2.9.1Chapter 9: Key Events

2.9.2Chapter 9: Key Themes

2.10Chapter 10

2.10.1Chapter 10: Key Events

2.10.2Chapter 10: Key Themes

2.11Chapter 11

2.11.1Chapter 11: Key Events

2.11.2Chapter 11: Key Themes

2.12Chapter 12

2.12.1Chapter 12: Key Events

2.12.2Chapter 12: Key Themes

2.13Chapter 13

2.13.1Chapter 13: Key Events

2.13.2Chapter 13: Key Themes

2.14Chapter 14

2.14.1Chapter 14: Key Events

2.14.2Chapter 14: Key Themes

3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two

3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse

3.1.1Pages 191-201: Key Events

3.1.2Pages 191-201: Key Themes

3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn

3.2.1Pages 202-213: Key Events

3.2.2Pages 202-213: Key Themes

3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack

3.3.1Pages 214-226: Key Events

3.3.2Pages 214-226: Key Themes

3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections

3.4.1Pages 226-234: Key Events

3.4.2Pages 226-234: Key Themes

3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal

3.5.1Pages 234-246: Key Events

3.5.2Pages 234-246: Key Themes

3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk

3.6.1Pages 246-254: Key Events

3.6.2Pages 246-254: Key Themes

3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar

3.7.1Pages 254-265: Key Events

3.7.2Pages 254-265: Key Themes

4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three

4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940

4.1.1Pages 269-277: Key Events

4.1.2Pages 269-277: Key Themes

4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer

4.2.1Pages 277-286: Key Events

4.2.2Pages 277-286: Key Themes

4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War

4.3.1Pages 287-315: Key Events

4.3.2Pages 287-315: Key Themes

4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding

4.4.1Pages 315-327: Key Events

4.4.2Pages 315-327: Key Themes

4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit

4.5.1Pages 328-349: Key Events

4.5.2Pages 328-349: Key Themes

5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four

5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371

5.1.1Pages 353-371: Key Events

5.1.2Pages 353-371: Key Themes

6Key Character Profiles

6.1Briony Tallis

6.1.1Overview of Briony's Character

6.1.2Briony in Part One

6.1.3Briony in Part Three & Four

6.2Robbie Turner

6.2.1Overview of Robbie's Character

6.2.2Robbie in Part One

6.2.3Robbie in Part Two & Three

6.3Cecilia Tallis

6.3.1Cecilia in Part One

6.3.2Cecilia in Part Three

6.4Lola Quincey

6.4.1Overview of Lola Quincey

6.4.2Lola Relationship with Marshall

6.5Paul Marshall

6.5.1Overview of Paul Marshall

6.5.2Paul Marshall's Relationship with Lola

6.5.3Paul Marshall's Power

6.6Emily Tallis

6.6.1Overview of Emily Tallis

6.6.2Emily Tallis' Character

7Key Themes

7.1Introduction to Crime Texts

7.1.1Common Themes in Crime Texts

7.2Crimes in Atonement

7.2.1Crimes in Atonement

7.2.2Structural Patterning & Ambiguity in Crime Texts

7.3Criminals in Atonement

7.3.1Paul Marshall & Lola as Criminals

7.3.2Narrative Point of View in Crime Texts

7.4Victims in Atonement

7.4.1Lola, Robbie & Cecilia as Victims

7.4.2Females Victims & Social Class in Crime Texts

7.5Detection in Atonement

7.5.1Detection in Atonement

7.5.2Detection in Crime Texts

7.6Settings in Atonement

7.6.1Settings in Atonement

7.6.2Symbolism of Settings in Crime Texts

7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement

7.7.1Marshall & Briony Escaping Punishment

7.7.2Guilt & Punishment in Crime Texts

8Writing Techniques

8.1Structure

8.1.1Overview of Structure

8.1.2Metanarrative, Circular Structure & Ending

8.1.3Manipulation of Time

8.2Form

8.2.1Narrative Perspective

8.2.2Genre

8.3Symbols & Motifs

8.3.1Symbolism of the Vase & Amo Bar

8.4Language

8.4.1Focalising Through Briony & Robbie

9Context

9.1Historical Context

9.1.1The Summer of 1935

9.1.2Dunkirk, 1940

9.1.3London, 1940

9.2Social Context

9.2.1Social Class

9.2.2The Role of Women in the 1930/40s

9.3Literary Context

9.3.1Literary Genres & Atonement

10Critical Debates

10.1Marxist Literary Criticism

10.1.1Introduction to Marxist Literary Criticism

10.1.2Marxist Readings: Importance of Social Class

10.1.3Marxist Reading: Capitalist Exploitation & War

10.2Feminist Literary Criticism

10.2.1Introduction to Feminist Literary Criticism

10.2.2Feminist Readings: Gender Roles & Stereotypes

10.2.3Feminist Readings: Marriage & Family

10.2.4Feminist Readings: Male & Female Sexuality

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