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Summary AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B - CRIME WRITING ATONEMENT NOTES - Language and Structure
AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B - CRIME WRITING ATONEMENT NOTES Language and Structure Notes
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Language and Structure in AtonementStory Within A Story
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" marked a new literary form in Romanticism literature in that it
was a story, inside a story, inside a story. At the very centre of the notable novel, the monster is
telling his story in the first person to his creator who is telling his story to a ship captain who is
writing his story to his sister who is the author of the book. Ian McEwan's "Atonement" plays
with this layered-tradition: a story being told by one of the characters (not revealed until the
end) in the third person, that shifts to the first person in the final section of the book when the
reader realises who the narrator is.
At the end of the novel it is revealed that all we have read is really just Briony's manuscript -
acceptable due to the novels realism. It however comes as a shock to learn that the novel
moves away from fiction as Robbie died at Dunkirk and Cecilia during a London bomb raid.
Briony never met them and they were not reunited instead the novel comes from aspects of the
truth she has found in the letters between the lovers gifted to her by Nettle. Briony uses these
letters and her imagination to craft the novel. Ironically her misinterpretation of the letters
before it what caused the false accusation.
The extradiegetic-heterodiegic narrator
A narrator located outside and above the story focalising events from a variety of perspectives.
Biographical Account
Largely due to the historical depictions of the retreat at Dunkirk and the grim realities of caring
for the wounded.
Post-Modernist
By drawing on a technique common in post modernist novels in which the reader is given
alternative endings and events by an unreliable narrator McEwan casts doubt on what is real
and what is constructed.
The revelation of Cecilia and Robbie's deaths removes the possibility of any forgiveness but the
unreliability of the narrative casts doubt on even this.
Modernism
Structuralism
Poststructuralism
Part II develops the modernist style further with the only narrative action being Robbie's journey
which is expressed through a stream of consciousness.
We see Briony's development as a writer from a conventional narrative -> modernism ->
postmodernism.
Cyril Connolly's letters to Briony introduce a postmodernist awareness to the novel of its own
composition.
Metafiction
Atonement draws attention to its own construction as a fictional narrative from the first lines.
, It blurs the lines between reality and fiction, allowing the author to question the reliability of
storytelling and the nature of truth. The novel's themes of memory, perspective, and the
consequences of storytelling are emphasised through its metafictional elements, adding layers
of complexity and self-reflexivity to the story. Additionally, the use of metafiction emphasises
the idea that the process of writing and storytelling has the power to shape reality and shape
our understanding of events. This highlights the theme of the power of language and
storytelling in shaping our perception of the world and others.
Briony admits to making up the happy ending of love in her story. When Briony admits to her
reader that it has taken her sixty-four years and countless drafts to complete her book, the
reader has to ask him/herself: "Which is the 'real' one?". It is the metafiction of the novel which
showcases the hints that it is really Briony who is writing the story.
It acts as a meta narrative.
Long Length of Part I
The reader is lulled by the elongated Part One into the security associated with the classic
realist novel (exaggerated by McEwanʼs use of chapters and detail into charactersʼ psyche
that builds anticipation before the crime) many critics dismissed the final coda as an
example of “postmodern gimmickry”, as expressed by Brian Finney. This links to McEwanʼs
own ideology that pointed to a “study in cognitive psychology” suggesting that “the best
way to deceive someone is first to deceive yourself”, highlighting the evolving narrative
voice that eventually breaks free from Brionyʼs deception. Sympathy is then created
through McEwanʼs structure as Briony comes to understand the extent of her crimes and
its effect upon the people closest to her.
The extensive description of the day makes the chapter move slowly and time is spent
analysing and recounting the smallest details. This alongside the sluggish air of the hot
summers day creates the idea that pressure is building in the Tallis household. Cecilia
attempts to break out of this languor by plunging herself in cold water and refreshing the
flowers but the slow prose undermines these attempts. The many side stories and the
explanation of the vases history causes the scenes to move even slower.
The only event in Chapter 2 is the smashing of the WW1 vase. The build up makes the
sense more dramatic and Cecilia's carefully thought out response and thoughts after drag
out the impact.
It is later revealed that the vase was broken by Betty the cook when the house was
being organised. The juxtaposition of the differences in reactions towards the two
times the vase breaks makes the events in Chapter 2 surreal and ridiculous noting
what is to come.
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