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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE CRIME WRITING PART B COMPARISON OF POETRY ANTHOLOGY AND ATONEMENT ‘At the core of every crime story is a morality tale.’£4.39
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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE CRIME WRITING PART B COMPARISON OF POETRY ANTHOLOGY AND ATONEMENT ‘At the core of every crime story is a morality tale.’
‘At the core of every crime story is a morality
tale.ʼ Explore the significance of moral lessons
in two crime texts you have studied. [25
marks]
‘At the core of every crime story is a morality tale.ʼ Explore the significance of moral lessons in
two crime texts you have studied. [25 marks]
The Poetry Anthology Atonement
Peter Grimes
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Paul Marshall and Robbie Turner acting as vice and valour binaries
Brionyʼs own lessons being learnt
For centuries, critics have discussed whether crime writing has merely a moral purpose acting
as a morality tale where good and evil are juxtaposed through the criminal and innocent and
victim and perpetrator. It can be argued that the mere structure of a crime being committed
followed by punished and then resolution can be seen as a morality tale due to the restoration
of natural order when evil is removed. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss to what extent this is
the case the ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaolʼ, ‘Peter Grimesʼ, and Atonement, arguing to what extent
‘at the core of every crime story there is a morality taleʼ.
In the Medieval Ages, morality plays became popularised acting as tales, were good and evil in
the form of ‘viceʼ and ‘valourʼ fought over the soul of the protagonist. Atonement can be seen
as mirroring this centuries own form of fiction in the characters of Robbie Turner and Paul
Marshall which appear to personify good, and evil being mistaken for each other and acting as
doubles in various parts of the novel also becoming characters in Brionyʼs own form of a
morality play – ‘The Trails of Arabellaʼ. As Marshallʼs sexuality is criminal and repulsive
showcased in the sinister dream, he has of his little sisters followed by his appearance in the
twins bedroom where he lures Lola in with a chocolate creepily telling her; “Bite it, you have to
bite it”. Robbie juxtaposes this completely. He acts as a binary of good and presents a
consensual interpretation of sexual desire as showcased in the library scene. Yet Briony who
acts as the morality plays agent of chaos mistakes the two characters for each other. In Part III,
in Ceciliaʼs apartment as Robbie coldly states “my size” in relation to Brionyʼs earlier accusation
that she saw a man of Robbieʼs size looming over Lola, he showcases how easily a
misunderstanding can be made confusing good and evil opposing a morality tale.
Through Brionyʼs obsession with narratives she attempts to spin all of the peopleʼs lives around
her into a web of fantasy and fairytales where characters are often ‘flatʼ and ‘uncomplexedʼ
being either good or bad. Therefore, in Chapter 3 when viewing the fountain scene and recalling
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