The prime method by which McEwan presents the transition between the child and adult world in Atonement is through specific focus on the behaviour and motivations of one character, Briony Tallis. Taking a psychological and personal approach, McEwan addresses the complexities of adolescence, "the ill-defined transitional space between the nursery and adult worlds"1, and the various archetypal effects, usually of a sexual nature, that affect a child with little or no experience of adult life.
Briony, it would seem, is a character trapped in a bubble, who requires the intervention of internal and external forces in order to break into the world of adulthood. The two passages selected specifically show the distinction - or, indeed, lack of - between child and adult Briony, her coming to being and her realisation of the 'crime' "for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone"2.Part One mainly concerns McEwan developing a prevailing aura of obscurity and anticipation, with young Briony having intercepted a vulgar letter that she believes confirms Robbie Turner as a 'maniac'. The Part focuses on two differing viewpoints; those of Briony and the rest of the world; dropping her in solitude. The paradox is that while Briony is attempting to pursue adulthood and convince herself of her maturity - "the day had proved to her that she was not a child"3 - she "had to prove herself worthy of it"4, accordingly reverting to a juvenile mindset.This absurd attitude is put into practice during her encounter with Lola Quincey (pages 118-19).
The passage exposes the "controlling demon"5 that governs Briony's behaviour; the transition between the child and adult world being presented by McEwan as one of malevolence and possibly even antagonistic drive. It also depicts a transition from trust in words to that of action - this also portraying conflicting attributes of children and adults; maybe even regression.A prominent motif throughout Atonement is the 'power' of language, and how something as modest and seemingly insignificant as a word can alter a whole course of events. McEwan's focus on this theme possibly arose from the effects of his own childhood; his mother's "particular, timorous relationship with language"6 reciprocally influencing his own views purveyed through Atonement.
Indeed, one might say that Briony's confidence in the power of language is intrinsically a juvenile concept - e. g. he value of learning to read at an early age - and the fact that this belief is still present in the final part of the novel, with her plan for atonement - "as long as there is a single copy... then my spontaneous, fortuitous sister and her medical prince survive to love"7 - implies that it is one feature of her youthful mentality which hasn't experienced transition.
Turning back to the passage, having shown Lola the letter "the effect [on Briony] was gratifying"8, giving further grounds to the idea of a malevolent transition.It hints that she believes she has completed a stage in her strive for maturity. She has enforced her intentions on the real world as well as the world of authorship, granting her a glimpse into adulthood. Brian Finney asserts that McEwan "remains fascinated with the forbidden and the taboo, which he continues to describe with non-judgmental precision"9. Looking further into the passage, the word 'cunt' striking Briony as a premise for rape accusation, epitomises her immaturity and drastic misinterpretation of taboo language.
One can deduce that her intention is to develop a greater feeling of responsibility; her thoughts are nonetheless reflected by the adults condemning Robbie later in the novel. When Briony "spelled it out for her, backwards"10 it gives the image of a children's word game, McEwan's emphasis on 'backwards' allowing greater insight into the maintained misguided thoughts of Briony, her trust of the power of language and the ridiculous conclusions drawn from the word.She possibly feels that she has conformed to society's rules by exposing a potential danger, this again bringing us back to her frame of mind - does the 'controlling demon'; her precocious, insular, attention-seeking traits lead her to prioritise them? Parallels can be drawn with another of McEwan's works, The Cement Garden, by which his characters experience a growing - somewhat Freudian - sex drive in their state of transition. Is Briony contrastingly trying to repress her adolescent sexual urges? Could these said urges be for Robbie?It can also be questioned whether Briony's intentions lie predominantly with the view to portraying her 'adulthood' instead of actually growing up. "The desire to share a secret and show the older girl that she too had worldly experiences"11 gives the reader two things; one being that McEwan makes specific reference to Lola as 'the older girl', most probably to prove Briony's aspirations and potential mannerisms.
Ironically, Lola's confidence in Briony's accusation of Robbie, for whatever reason, displays a somewhat immature mindset in Lola.The quote also amplifies her misguidance - Briony, in relative terms, does not have 'worldly experiences', and "guiding Lola to the basin"12 does not particularly show or affect whether she does or does not. Another interesting line, "they're just little kids"13, continues to hint that Briony is anticipating, or is at least trying to portray, this impending change, presenting herself as a responsible adult, disconnected from childhood, in front of a girl who she might even aspire to be like.Moving on, the second passage (pages 341-2) concerns Briony's visit to Cecilia - a whole five years after her 'crime'.
This scene was, however, entirely constructed by the "writer-director"14 Briony in her formulation of Parts One, Two and Three - it never took place. Atonement, being a post-modern novel, works by means of metanarrative. It is "time-honoured"15 and constructed with a temporally interlaced storyline; Mullan believing that "some readers have felt cheated by it"16 (a "crude melodrama"17) alluding to the emotive effect that McEwan's catharsis evokes.With regards to the text, were the reader to take the scene where Briony witnesses the death of a young soldier in the hospital - that "seem[ed] to catapult her at last out of her destructive self-interest"18 - to be the catalyst behind her visit to Cecilia, it suggests - bearing in mind that the 'flat scene' is a construction - that the childhood vices of a diminished sense of pain and suffering (which ultimately condemned Robbie) remained and were not recognised until years later when she was writing the novel.Has she grown up at all by this stage? The 'flat scene', despite presenting an initial contrast from the first passage, implicitly provides evidence that her transition has been stunted.
Her inevitable apprehension is compounded by Robbie's glaring presence in the room - "she was watching from far away. "19 He is an old "demon"20 in Briony's life. A degraded, sullen character physically showing her the result of her actions - sunken cheeks and a little moustache providing an odious, even childlike image.When he raised his voice she jumped"21 likening him to a dominant adult - a school teacher or parent - with vocal influence over a small child.
Robbie's direct question "what's made you so certain now? "22 is answered by Briony with "growing up"23, McEwan's use of a succinct response effectively depicting Briony's feeling of urgency and apprehension, "a child anticipating a beating"24. Briony is vulnerable; the longevity of time hasn't protected her from being reprimanded. Interestingly it is "strange, that for all her guilt, she should feel the need to withstand him.It was that, or be annihilated"25 - the transition hasn't provided Briony with adult virtues of resoluteness and confidence. One might also suggest that she is continuing to behold Robbie as this violent, repulsive attacker that her child self condemned. The subtext is clear - Briony's transition has been delayed.
Conversely, taking into account her total precedence over this scene it is possible that Briony is imposing some kind of moral punishment on herself - possibly unjustly - through her trusted 'word power'.Robbie deserves to antagonise Briony through the "hardness in his gaze"26 and a raised voice; she is a masochist - the aforementioned repressed urges are seemingly taking effect. Hence, McEwan's presentation of the transition between the child and adult world, as shown by these two passages, is very abstract. Briony's position as narrator means that the reader cannot determine a time scale on the results of the transition. Where we believe she has matured, McEwan imposes a 'great turn' on the reader in the final Part.
This still does not mean that we cannot use it in effect; it merely shows her thoughts when writing the novel - a state of self-punishment. She is "the prime example of the way art shapes her life as much as she shapes that life into her art"27. Having been a young girl with a restricted view of the world and a nai?? ve mindset she has - albeit slowly - come to realise the consequences of her 'crime' and tried to amend them. The 'worldly experiences' have taken their toll and given Briony a chance to atone.
