The novel ‘Atonement’ written by Ian McEwan focuses on Briony’s journey to maturity and

the crimes she commits, which she hopes to atone for. McEwan explores guilt and it’s effects

through her initial false perception of Robbie as guilty, followed by the immense guilt Briony

feels for her lies and deceit.

Part One of the novel especially focuses on the false accusations made against Robbie in

order to present him as guilty. At the fountain scene when Briony watches her sister undress,

she wonders ‘what strange power did [Robbie] have over her? Threat?’ The question

presents Robbie as a character imposing himself on Cecilia, an action which he should feel

guilty for. Through this description, Briony depicts Robbie as the evil, one-dimensional villain

of the plot she writes. This sparks her vivid fantasies which eventually leads to Robbie’s

wrongful conviction. After locating Lola outside at night, Briony continues to portray Robbie

as a guilty villain, stating that he is the ‘incarnation of evil’. ‘Incarnation’ relates closely to the

devil and emphasizes Robbie’s sinful demonic crime which is apparent to Briony. Thus, Guilt

is Depicted through characters who have seemingly committed misdeeds. However, guilt

also creates a question for the reader to identify who is guilty. It can be noted that at the

fountain scene, Briony was unable to interpret the truth, which parallels with her inability to

see the truth behind Lola’s rape. Thus, the audience wonders who is actually guilty in the

novel. Furthermore, Briony’s one-sided interpretation of the situation causes her to further

blame Robbie, labeling him a ‘Maniac’. ‘Maniac’ is a harsh term and Briony’s repetition of the

word solidifies her opinions of him as the guilty suspect. Her innocent and childish views

prevent her from being considered guilty, as an unreliable lying witness, as well as Paul

Marshall’s high status which was saving him from being convicted as guilty. Therefore,

Robbie is presented as the guilty character, despite his innocent state. Briony’s childish

imagination also depicts him as a “giant” “inhuman” “shape” in the dark. This adds to the

fake guilt as Robbie apparently commiting a crime, dehumanizing him and making him

appear monstrous and therefore an untrustworthy villain. The reader may also be

manipulated by Briony’s narration and wonder how a man who committed such an awful

crime appears to display no signs of guilt, especially as he carries the twins home. Thus,

McEwan explores guilt through the false conviction of Robbie and his presentation as a guilt

character. He may be reminding the reader not to only trust the innocent looking character

asn to instead seek the truth - even if it may be difficult to come to terms with or against

social norms.

McEwan also explores guilt through Briony’s guilt as an adult and her desire to atone.

Throughout the novel the elderly Briony attempts to atone for her sin by making remarks

obviously from her more mature perspective. Notably she states “how easy it was to get

everything wrong, completely wrong”. Here, she foreshadows the future in which Robbie is

wrongly convicted and Paul Marshall, the rapist free. The tone at regret can clearly be

noticed as she remembers her childish naivety in trying to control and reshape the situation,

to the detriment of Robbie. By repeating the word wrong, she understands her misdeeds and

perhaps reminds the reader to look more closely into the details of a situation. Her guilt is

clear, yet the reader can wonder if her attempts at atonement will relieve her of her guilt.

Additionally, the reference to the rhyme "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly” depicts

Briony’s realization that her lie only grew, and the more she claimed that she “saw him”, the

worse the punishment was for Robbie. Through this, she feels guilty that her naivety and

passions for storytelling led her to tell a story with severe consequences. Thus the true villain

of the novel could be Birony who is in fact guilty of a crime she committed. The idea of

“swallowing” could also imply that she did not intend to or ever reveal the truth and stead, it

remains with her. Thus, Briony cannot truly be forgiven for her sins as she continues to hide

the truth in more lies and storytelling. Her role as the unreliable narrator makes her

untrustworthy, and even more unforgivable as she lacks a ‘backbone’ and the confidence to

admit her wrongdoing openly. Despite this, Birony depicts more of her guilt through her

description of Robbie during this war. She notes that he used to revel in his freedom to make

his own life, “devise his own story”. Unfortunately, this was stripped away by Briony’s single

lie. Briony now sees the aspirations and hopes she took from a boy she falsely accused as

guilty. Thus, Briony is the true guilty character and her punishment is to suffer with this guilt

throughout her life. The depiction of Robbie being able to ‘revel’ and write his “own story”

further adds to Briony’s guilt as Robbie neither lived peacefully nor comfortably, and his story

was also bad to be made and written by someone else. Another easy Briony attempts to

atone is through becoming a nurse and so lowering her social class. Although there is some

depiction of guilt in her action, the reader could also wonder if Briony views becoming a

nurse as a lowly job, further adding to the negative portrayal of Briony. Thus, Briony is guilty

for many crimes and continues to present herself as a selfish guilty character. Towards the

end of the novel, Briony states that “when I am dead [...] we will only exist as my

interventions.” Through this, she justifies her atonement as her novel will live on forever.

However, “my” does not imply that the novel is the real, whole truth, and that Briony still

remains as a guilty character.

Overall, McEwan presents guilt and its effects throughout the falsely accused and guilty

Robbie whilst the true criminal roams free. Briony also feels immense guilt, due to ehr lies,

which she attempts to atone for. However, she does not succeed and instead remains a

villain in the story she wrote