Atonemnet essays

Atonemnet essays Ian McEwan`s novel is a dark, sleek trap of a book. Lying is, after all, what atonement is about as much as it is about guilt, penitence, or, for that matter, art. Through out the novel, Atonement, it is seen that characters lie to themselves and to other, thus they are guilt stricken and feel the need for atonement. The concepts of fact vs fiction, and truth vs lies are thoroughly explored in this novel. Each character is unique yet they all share one common trait, the ability to lie to ones self and to others. We see throughout the novel that lying is an explored theme. Briony the main and first character introduced to us is very imaginative. She is often caught between reality and imagination, and eventually this leads to the downfall of another character. Her imagination blinds her sense of reality and she begins to believe what she thinks she sees. Emily Tallis is a character, which believes her own lies. She lies to herself about the fact that Jack Tallis, her husband, has left her and is having an affair. She believes that her husband will one day come back home, when in actual fact he has no intention of returning. She feels that by lying to herself she can obstruct reality and she will not have to face the harsh reality of being alone. There are feelings between Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis, yet they choose to lie to themselves and banish any feeling there may be. Until eventually they can no longer hide their feeling and they become apparent, although misinterpreted by Briony. Lola longs to be seen as an adult and she feels that by lying to herself she will be able to convince those around her of her maturity. When Paul Marshal addresses the twins she interrupts saying then Ill thank you not to talk about them in front of the children. By saying this she feels more mature and hopes that others will accept her lie and notice her mature behavior. ...