When
first introduced to Atonement, we
were asked to pay attention to opposing elements, such as art versus science or
reason versus emotion. One of the examples that stood out the most throughout
the novel is childhood versus adulthood. At a certain age, children start
wishing to be treated as adults. Since the children do not see themselves as
kids anymore, they consistently act and long to be adults. In Atonement, the reader is introduced to
Briony as she is just entering that stage. While she is barely thirteen, it
quickly becomes clear that she sees herself as an adult and she tries to
convince those around her of the very same thing. However, based on the course
that the novel takes, it is quite clear that she is still a child.
A
large part of growing up is learning what is right and what is wrong, with not
a lot of gray area in between. For example, children are taught the importance
of having a clean room. Since there is usually a punishment for a disorganized
one, it makes sense for children to assume that a dirty room is not aligned
with something appropriate for an adult to have. When Briony is first
introduced, the reader is told how her room is arranged and how it is “a shrine
to her controlling demon” (4). Compared to every other room in the house,
Briony’s is the cleanest, which is only the beginning in a long series of
examples that can be summed up to show how badly Briony wants to be seen as an
adult. A little later on when Briony is sharing her play with her cousins, she
struggles with handing over the lead role to Lola, so she combats that by
assigning herself the role of director (13-5). This strong desire for control is
another example of Briony’s longing to be seen as an adult and her perception
of what it means to be one. She is fully aware of how unorganized the other
rooms in the house are, and she likely believes that there is a strong
correlation between order and adulthood.
Because
Briony wholeheartedly believes that everything is so black and white, and
because she does not see the effects of emotions on decisions, it almost makes
sense that she makes the accusation that she does. Based on her actions, it is
clear that she sees an adult as a protector from any type of harm. However, up
until the point that she reaches actual adulthood, she does not see that her
emotions played a heavy role in what she thought she saw the night the twins
disappeared. It becomes very evident that she is motivated by her desire to be
seen as an adult, especially when during the hunt for the twins, she comments
that nobody takes her along to help find them because she is not seen as an
adult. Furthermore, she mentions that she does not mind Robbie’s hate for her
because it is a symbol of growing up (147). A lot of evidence is provided throughout the book that demonstrates how much the desire for adulthood acts as motivation behind most decisions. All of this put together says a lot about people and how we act and grow as we age. Even though the desire for adulthood can be seen as an excuse for Briony's behavior, it does not make what she did any less infuriating.
With all due respect, I tend to disagree with the notion of Briony seeing adulthood and childhood as black and white with no gray area. I do believe you are correct in saying there is a push for adulthood and it motivates a large majority of Briony’s actions, but I do not believe she thinks she is in one stage or the other. I believe she recognizes she is in a transitional stage of her life.
ReplyDeleteOne reason I don’t believe she is entirely pushing for adulthood is quotes like the following “attaining adulthood was all about the eager acceptance of such impediments (pg.114-115)”. This is when she is referring to Lola having to prepare herself before she joins the others at the party. I didn't read this sentence as particularly eager to join the adult world, but rather as resentful that just another expectation is for a women to have her face properly made-up. Later in this section she expresses happiness at still being able to greet the guests in her less formal attire before she has to go upstairs and change. She’s not entirely a child, but not accountable to the standards of women yet.
Also, I think it might be relevant to this argument that the novel explicitly states Briony “was one of those children possessed by a desire to have the world just so (pg.4)”. Briony is no ordinary child and this might also be a contributing factor to why she has her room organized the way she does rather than purely being because of the need for adulthood. It is appropriate to consider this may be because of absent parental figures in her life. With a father, who is always working, and a mother, who is hidden away in her room with illness, Briony has been forced to create her own order in life. Although, by no means am I discounting the fact that the need for order does have a lot to do with a push for adulthood.
As a final point, there is a quote “at this stage in her life she inhabited an ill-defined transitional space between the nursery and adult worlds which she crossed and recrossed unpredictably, (pg.132)” which acknowledges she was in a gray area of sorts in her life. It isn't just black and white adulthood vs. childhood.
What resonates with me the most in this blog post is the fact that children often do not realize how emotions can color one’s perception of a situation or a decision that he or she makes. This post effectively illustrates this idea with the example of Briony accusing Robbie of assaulting Lola when Briony cannot identify the man for certain. In this instance, Briony is furious at Robbie. Earlier in the story, Briony and Lola label him “a maniac” because he writes an extremely offensive letter to Cecilia and later rapes her—or so Briony and Lola perceive because of his sexually explicit letter (112). In both the library scene and when choosing whether or not to tell the truth, Briony lets her feelings overpower her perception of Robbie and Cecilia’s encounter as well as Briony’s decision to accuse Robbie of raping Lola.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the novel, when Briony is around eighteen years old, the conflicting elements of childhood versus adulthood come into play again when Robbie asks Briony why she feels compelled to tell the truth years after the accusation occurred. Briony simply replies, “Growing up” (323). Indeed, as this blog post states, a significant difference between childhood and adulthood is the realization that emotions may color one’s perception of a situation or a decision that he or she makes. Maturing into an adult develops one’s awareness of this impact.
If you examine the comparison of childhood to adulthood through considering Briony’s character in the earlier half of the novel, it seems to me like she is clearly in the transition stage between both. It is even stated on page 134 that “At this stage in her life Briony inhabited an ill-defined transitional space between the nursery and adult worlds which she crossed and re-crossed unpredictably”. While her behavior is childish in the regard that she struggles to separate reason from emotion, she clearly exhibits qualities of a more matured individual beyond her years.
ReplyDeleteOne could attribute part of Briony’s maturity to the social setting she is raised in, more specifically her family’s social status. The academic accomplishments of her siblings as well as her ability to write and produce stories and dramatic plays suggest that she is clearly educated well beyond the average girl her age in the same time period.
Aside from the fact she is well educated, we can also see Briony’s maturity in the fact she wants to try and protect her sister from what she thinks is a male “threat to the order of the household” (107). Despite such maturity however, she is still a young teenager that fails to comprehend what she cannot understand at the time.