Recurring Failure in Atonement

Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement struck me in a different way than most other novels I have read in the past.  Among all of the themes and ideas we have discussed concerning the novel, and perhaps some we haven’t, one I found to be most interesting and unusual is the recurring failure that characters experience throughout the novel.  Furthermore, I question whether or not Briony’s fasle depictions in the novel constitute yet another failure on her part, as opposed to a way of successfully atoning for the wrongful act she committed at the age of thirteen.

            Many of the failures in the novel are just unfulfilled hopes or dreams that various characters experience.  Some of these failures in the form of unfulfilled hopes and dreams are small ones, while others are quite colossal and have resounding impacts on the people involved.  Beginning with part one of the novel, Briony expresses her passion for writing.  Specifically, in part one when her brother Leon is set to come home to visit the family, Briony writes a play to be performed the night of his arrival.  She pours all of her time and passion into writing this play and then accepts the task of directing it as well.  Of course, things don’t go as planned and the cousins from the North are rather uncooperative, so the plans fall through and Briony aborts the mission, resulting in her failure to put on the play for her brother as she desired.

            Robbie was also at a pivotal time in his life in part one.  Up to that point he had experienced great success as a student and was set to attend medical school with hopes of becoming a doctor or some type of medical professional.  Obviously, this dream does not materialize into reality, because of Briony’s failure to tell the truth in court about who really assaulted Lola.  Briony did not necessarily fail herself when she told the court that she saw Robbie with her own eyes.  She failed - perhaps unknowingly at the time - Robbie, her sister Cecilia, Lola, and perhaps the entire family when she lied.  Most importantly, she failed Robbie and Cecilia’s newfound yet everlasting desire to be together.

            The rest of the novel chronicles the lives of Robbie, Cecilia, and Briony as they take on their separate lives during the war.  Briony spends a lot of her time writing and revising her story about Robbie and Cecilia and the act she committed against them.  However, Briony fails to tell the truth about what really happened until the end.  Was this in itself a failure on her part, or was it really a way of atoning for the wrongs she committed, or admitting her failure and the finality of it?  In the end we discover that Briony never did meet with Cecilia.  Instead, she let her fear send her back before gathering the courage to go to Cecilia’s home.  She never did admit to everyone what really happened; yet it was all in her novel.  Perhaps that was her biggest failure of all; no matter what stories she writes she never really was able to atone for the lives of and the disrupted love between Robbie and Cecilia.