8.4.1
Focalising Through Briony & Robbie
Focalising Through Briony in Atonement
Focalising Through Briony in Atonement
McEwan uses subtle differences in language and register to distinguish between his characters.
Briony' pretentious language
Briony' pretentious language
- The chapters in Part One which are focalised from Briony’s perspective are marked by quite pretentious language, particularly in the text of Briony’s play, The Trials of Arabella. Briony uses words intended to show off her expanding vocabulary rather than to convey precise meaning.
- For example, the prologue introduces the “extrinsic fellow” with whom Arabella will “evanesce from her home” (p16).
Comedy from Briony's style
Comedy from Briony's style
- McEwan creates comedy from Briony’s self-consciously overblown style.
- For example, when Briony tries to impress her older sister with her vocabulary. In the pause, Cecilia predicts “a dictionary word about to have its first outing” (p45).
- Moreover, when Briony settles on her word (“genre”) she mispronounces it and Cecilia asks her bluntly, “What are you talking about?” (p45)
Briony impressed by "maniac"
Briony impressed by "maniac"
- A more troubling consequence of Briony’s love of ‘sophisticated’ language is the way she is impressed by Lola’s use of “maniac” to describe Robbie after both girls read the obscene note: “A maniac. The word had refinement, and the weight of medical diagnosis” (p119).
- Lola’s use of the term further prejudices Briony against Robbie before the scenes in the library and by the island temple later that night.
Focalising Through Robbie in Atonement
Focalising Through Robbie in Atonement
By contrast, the narrative voice focalised through Robbie’s perspective in Part Two of the novel is characterised by a much simpler and naturalistic use of language.
"Leg in a tree"
"Leg in a tree"
- We first see this in the description of “a leg in a tree” (p192) where the absence of adjectives or other descriptive devices serve to make the image starker and more shocking.
- Likewise, when Robbie reflects on the destruction he has seen, he imagines Europe as a “dead civilisation”, the simplicity of the adjective adding to the power of the image.
Expletives & slang terms
Expletives & slang terms
- The realism of the soldiers’ dialogue is noteworthy in Part Two. The dialogue includes expletives and slang terms.
- This is in marked contrast to the more refined language of Part One where the only use of an expletive is in Robbie’s obscene additions to his note to Cecilia.
- Robbie’s use of the taboo term “cunt” (p86) helps to condemn him as a “monster” in Briony’s eyes, who feels “disgust” (p158) at how the lower-class Robbie could use “a terrible word” towards her sister despite everything the Tallis family had done for him.
Scientific language in Part Two
Scientific language in Part Two
- The use of language in Part Two also helps to convey the horrors of war.
- After the Stuka attack, Robbie observes that “Mother and child had been vaporised” (p239).
- The use of such a scientifically precise term underlines how ruthlessly efficient humanity has become at turning the murder of an entire family into a science.
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
Jump to other topics
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
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