Within the Opening Chapters of Atonement, To What Extent does McEwan
Introduce the Elements of Crime?
In the opening chapter of Atonement, it is not immediately obvious that a crime will take place.
The two main events while the household is waiting for the arrival of Leon, Briony leading
rehearsals for her play and Robbie and Cecilia breaking the vase, are both seemingly harmless
events which suggest little to the reader about crime. However, McEwan establishes the main
themes of the book which are central to the crime which takes place – Briony’s overactive
imagination and the relationship between Robbie and Cecilia and how these two intertwine -
foreshadowing the coming events in the novel.
The setting of the novel is fairly typical of crime novels. An old country house with a fairly
isolated, upper-class family, is highly reminiscent of Golden Age crime texts which may hint to
the reader that a crime is going to take place. The Tallis’ home is described by McEwan as ‘a
tragedy of wasted chances’ with its ‘artificial lake’ and ‘almost new gothic fireplace’ which
presented ‘an impression of timeless, unchanging calm’. The words ‘artificial’ and the
juxtaposition of the ‘almost new’ and the ‘gothic’ show the reader how unreal, manmade and
fake the environment is which reflects the false and dysfunctional nature of the Tallis family.
The word ‘impression’ is also significant because it shows that the Tallis’ are more interested in
appearances than in truths which might suggest why they turn upon Robbie, who is of a lower
class, because that fits with their ideas of the world, without actually experiencing much of it.
McEwan also creates an aura of neglect around the house with its ‘untuned harpsichord and
the unused rosewood music stands’. This mirrors how neglected the children – especially
Briony - are in the novel. Emily only seems to have a superficial interest in her children, being
‘distant, even unfriendly’ towards Cecilia and spending most of her time nursing an oncoming
migraine. This leaves Briony to her own devices which helps the reader to understand why she
later commits her crime as the neglect she feels from her mother and father leaves her to
crave attention and the boredom she has from being alone leads her to develop an extremely
overactive imagination.
As the first chapter is from the narrative perspective of Briony, McEwan allows the reader to
gain an understanding of her criminal psyche without perhaps being aware of that at the time
they read it. Briony might be expected to be the victim of the novel as she is a young child who
are often the victims of crime novels. The reader is told that ‘she did not have it in her to be
cruel’ and as the reader trusts the narrator at this point they are inclined to believe it. The
reader may even feel sorry for her as she is ‘manipulated’ by Lola during the rehearsals so Lola
can play the part of Arabella. McEwan makes the reader assume Briony’s role before
subverting that expectation later on when her role as the criminal becomes clear. However, in
the opening chapters there are hints that Briony may commit the crime and to why she does it.
Her character is described as being ‘one of those children possessed by a desire to have the
world just so’ Briony’s desire for order is shown to the reader here, which is significant because
it is important later as she makes connections between events that she doesn’t understand to
create her own order out of the chaos of the adult world. She has a ‘passion for secrets’ and
yet ‘nothing in her life was sufficiently interesting or shameful to merit hiding’ which bores her
Introduce the Elements of Crime?
In the opening chapter of Atonement, it is not immediately obvious that a crime will take place.
The two main events while the household is waiting for the arrival of Leon, Briony leading
rehearsals for her play and Robbie and Cecilia breaking the vase, are both seemingly harmless
events which suggest little to the reader about crime. However, McEwan establishes the main
themes of the book which are central to the crime which takes place – Briony’s overactive
imagination and the relationship between Robbie and Cecilia and how these two intertwine -
foreshadowing the coming events in the novel.
The setting of the novel is fairly typical of crime novels. An old country house with a fairly
isolated, upper-class family, is highly reminiscent of Golden Age crime texts which may hint to
the reader that a crime is going to take place. The Tallis’ home is described by McEwan as ‘a
tragedy of wasted chances’ with its ‘artificial lake’ and ‘almost new gothic fireplace’ which
presented ‘an impression of timeless, unchanging calm’. The words ‘artificial’ and the
juxtaposition of the ‘almost new’ and the ‘gothic’ show the reader how unreal, manmade and
fake the environment is which reflects the false and dysfunctional nature of the Tallis family.
The word ‘impression’ is also significant because it shows that the Tallis’ are more interested in
appearances than in truths which might suggest why they turn upon Robbie, who is of a lower
class, because that fits with their ideas of the world, without actually experiencing much of it.
McEwan also creates an aura of neglect around the house with its ‘untuned harpsichord and
the unused rosewood music stands’. This mirrors how neglected the children – especially
Briony - are in the novel. Emily only seems to have a superficial interest in her children, being
‘distant, even unfriendly’ towards Cecilia and spending most of her time nursing an oncoming
migraine. This leaves Briony to her own devices which helps the reader to understand why she
later commits her crime as the neglect she feels from her mother and father leaves her to
crave attention and the boredom she has from being alone leads her to develop an extremely
overactive imagination.
As the first chapter is from the narrative perspective of Briony, McEwan allows the reader to
gain an understanding of her criminal psyche without perhaps being aware of that at the time
they read it. Briony might be expected to be the victim of the novel as she is a young child who
are often the victims of crime novels. The reader is told that ‘she did not have it in her to be
cruel’ and as the reader trusts the narrator at this point they are inclined to believe it. The
reader may even feel sorry for her as she is ‘manipulated’ by Lola during the rehearsals so Lola
can play the part of Arabella. McEwan makes the reader assume Briony’s role before
subverting that expectation later on when her role as the criminal becomes clear. However, in
the opening chapters there are hints that Briony may commit the crime and to why she does it.
Her character is described as being ‘one of those children possessed by a desire to have the
world just so’ Briony’s desire for order is shown to the reader here, which is significant because
it is important later as she makes connections between events that she doesn’t understand to
create her own order out of the chaos of the adult world. She has a ‘passion for secrets’ and
yet ‘nothing in her life was sufficiently interesting or shameful to merit hiding’ which bores her
