Sunday, October 26, 2008

Atonement?

This book ends with no one receiving atonement. Briony tries but because of the circumstances (the war and isolation) she never fully rights her wrong. The Marshall's try to make amends (we infer this from the novel), by donating money to various charities and such, but that is not enough for what Lola did and never will anything be enough for what Paul did. Lola lied and let Briony do her dirty work and Paul was a pig and the catalyst for the inevitable demise of a love desired. Everyone, even I, blame Briony (usually forgetting it is really Paul Marshall who should be blamed) but I do have some sympathy for her. She was young and foolish and sought adventure. Most kids lie and don't end up ruining people's lives and she just didn't understand the extent of what she was doing and how it would affect those involved. She did not get her atonement (it was too late- Robbie was dead and her and Cecelia never reconnected before she died), but she did try to give the couple a somewhat happy ending, no matter how false it was. This totally contradicts what I previously stated, but I think Briony slowly dying and losing her mind (and therefore her writing ability), is a kind of atonement. Kind of like Karma or payback for what she did.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never thought of her losing her writing ability in that light. Interesting thought!

SGraham32 said...

Thanks, I feel it may have been the only "true" way for her to receive atonement- Cee and Robbie lost each other (the loves of their lives) and she lost the one thing she loved and nurtured above all else, the same thing that led to her "crime"...her ability to write and tell a "story."