‘The impact of the crime is lessened over timeʼ
‘The impact of the crime is lessened over timeʼ
Poetry Collection and Atonement
Briony committing a secondary crime against the reader and Robbie/Cecilia.
Paul Marshallʼs crime being removed with time and the setting.
Porphyriaʼs Lover (the crime seeming current even though it already past) and My Last
Duchess the Dukeʼs arrogance and entrapment of the Duchess making it more horrific.
Ballad of Reading Gaol – crime against the criminals/ victims removed.
For centuries, critics have discussed whether as time passes the impact of a crime grows due
to its many consequences or becomes lessened and forgotten. Debates on whether attempts at
atonement, feelings of guilt, or even worse crimes committed allow the crime to be lessened
surround crime fiction. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss to what extent ‘the impact of the
crime is lessened over timeʼ in the Poetry Anthology using poetry from Wilde and Browning and
McEwanʼs Atonement.
As Briony steps forward in the final chapter of the novel revealing her position as the
metafictional author of the novel her resigned rhetoric; “The attempt was all” acts as a
sympathetic question to the readers to determine whether her attempt of atonement was
successful is lessening her crime. She endites herself alongside Paul Marshall and Lola stating
that “There was our crime” with the inclusive pronoun “our” reflecting how she views herself on
the same terms as Paul whose victim “was prized open and taken” suggesting that Briony has
self-punished herself for the crime, with the events in the summer of 1935 being what have
marked and shaped her life ever since they occurred. This further introduces another question
to the reader of whether a personʼs guilt and shame at their actions lessened their crimes. On a
police procedural criminal level, this question can be answered with the affirmative with it being
well known that apologies and attempts at redemption for a crime are common ways of
shortening sentences. So, it is therefore up to the reader to determine whether the same can
occur in Brionyʼs case. By the end of the novel as she is diagnosed with “vascular dementia”
and appears to have been holding the weight of this guilt for decades she even begins to
appear more victim than criminal as the reader can be sympathetic with the idea of making poor
choices at a young age – especially thirteen.
Yet, without the victims forgiveness as Cecilia states to Briony that “I wonʼt ever forgive you” it
also seems immoral to be able to forgive a criminal with such a firm and declarative rejection of
their atonement from the direct victim themselves. Furthermore, as the critic James Phelan
stated, “although crime fiction has a moral purpose it does not have the ability to undo moral
wrongs” and it is important to reflect that although Briony has written a physical manifestation
of her guilt, Robbie Turner is still guilty in the eyes of the law as she has not removed her false
confession which would have taken a fraction of the time the novel would have taken to be
‘The impact of the crime is lessened over timeʼ
Poetry Collection and Atonement
Briony committing a secondary crime against the reader and Robbie/Cecilia.
Paul Marshallʼs crime being removed with time and the setting.
Porphyriaʼs Lover (the crime seeming current even though it already past) and My Last
Duchess the Dukeʼs arrogance and entrapment of the Duchess making it more horrific.
Ballad of Reading Gaol – crime against the criminals/ victims removed.
For centuries, critics have discussed whether as time passes the impact of a crime grows due
to its many consequences or becomes lessened and forgotten. Debates on whether attempts at
atonement, feelings of guilt, or even worse crimes committed allow the crime to be lessened
surround crime fiction. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss to what extent ‘the impact of the
crime is lessened over timeʼ in the Poetry Anthology using poetry from Wilde and Browning and
McEwanʼs Atonement.
As Briony steps forward in the final chapter of the novel revealing her position as the
metafictional author of the novel her resigned rhetoric; “The attempt was all” acts as a
sympathetic question to the readers to determine whether her attempt of atonement was
successful is lessening her crime. She endites herself alongside Paul Marshall and Lola stating
that “There was our crime” with the inclusive pronoun “our” reflecting how she views herself on
the same terms as Paul whose victim “was prized open and taken” suggesting that Briony has
self-punished herself for the crime, with the events in the summer of 1935 being what have
marked and shaped her life ever since they occurred. This further introduces another question
to the reader of whether a personʼs guilt and shame at their actions lessened their crimes. On a
police procedural criminal level, this question can be answered with the affirmative with it being
well known that apologies and attempts at redemption for a crime are common ways of
shortening sentences. So, it is therefore up to the reader to determine whether the same can
occur in Brionyʼs case. By the end of the novel as she is diagnosed with “vascular dementia”
and appears to have been holding the weight of this guilt for decades she even begins to
appear more victim than criminal as the reader can be sympathetic with the idea of making poor
choices at a young age – especially thirteen.
Yet, without the victims forgiveness as Cecilia states to Briony that “I wonʼt ever forgive you” it
also seems immoral to be able to forgive a criminal with such a firm and declarative rejection of
their atonement from the direct victim themselves. Furthermore, as the critic James Phelan
stated, “although crime fiction has a moral purpose it does not have the ability to undo moral
wrongs” and it is important to reflect that although Briony has written a physical manifestation
of her guilt, Robbie Turner is still guilty in the eyes of the law as she has not removed her false
confession which would have taken a fraction of the time the novel would have taken to be
