Atonement – Ian McEwan ‘Briony is just as
much a victim of her own crime as Robbie
Turner is.ʼ - 2017
Briony being a victim of her young age.
Briony and Robbie being victims of society.
Robbie Turnerʼs life being taken from him and the tragedy of his many options.
The London 1999 Part showcasing how Briony, and Robbie cannot be compared.
In crime fiction, questions of whether the criminal can also be a victim been discussed by critics
for centuries. In Atonement, we are introduced to Briony Tallis whose crime, which she commits
aged 13 in 1935, haunts her until very close to her assumed death in 1999. The novel acts as a
work of metafiction attempting to represent years of guilt and regret manufactured into a novel
which Briony states was her “fifty-nine-year assignment” to “achieve Atonement”. In this essay I
will therefore discuss to what extent Briony becomes a victim of her own crime as much as
Robbie Turner, her victim.
As we are introduced to Briony it becomes clear that she is somewhat of a “prima-donna” as
stated by Cecilia in Chapter 11, wanting to “lie alone, face-down on her bed and savour the vile
piquancy of the moment”, with the verb “savour” and adjective “vile” representing Brionyʼs
aching need for attention due to her young age and upper-class lifestyle. Immediately, McEwan
creates a sense of danger surrounding Brionyʼs age as he states that she “inhabited an ill-
defined traditional space between nursery and adult worlds which she crossed and recrossed
precariously” with the dangerous verbs “crossed” and “recrossed” suggesting that it may be
Brionyʼs age which causes her to commit the crime which changes hers and the other
characters lives so immensely. She attempts to appear mature at times by putting on a white
“muslin dress” however immediately contradicts this as she wipes her dirty hands on the white
material. Additionally, when attempting to say the word “genre” she mispronounces it so that
Cecilia does not understand her. In Part I, it therefore becomes clear that Brionyʼs youth is a
source of irony in the novel acting as an inside joke between the narrator and reader for
comedic effect in the novel. This is one of the first red herrings in the novel of the tension
between the narrator and narrative itself (hinting that Briony may be the author), and this focus
on her age and the immaturity which comes alongside it may be what causes her to commit the
crime. This causes the reader to question whether it is Brionyʼs immaturity and youth which
causes the crime to occur making her a victim of her young age and the misunderstandings
which come alongside it.
During Chapter 3, as we watch the fountain scene through Brionyʼs eyes parallels can be made
to L P Hartleyʼs ‘The Go Betweenʼ where a child in a hot summer setting moves between two
lovers misunderstanding their sexual relationship. As Briony watches the fountain scene she
much a victim of her own crime as Robbie
Turner is.ʼ - 2017
Briony being a victim of her young age.
Briony and Robbie being victims of society.
Robbie Turnerʼs life being taken from him and the tragedy of his many options.
The London 1999 Part showcasing how Briony, and Robbie cannot be compared.
In crime fiction, questions of whether the criminal can also be a victim been discussed by critics
for centuries. In Atonement, we are introduced to Briony Tallis whose crime, which she commits
aged 13 in 1935, haunts her until very close to her assumed death in 1999. The novel acts as a
work of metafiction attempting to represent years of guilt and regret manufactured into a novel
which Briony states was her “fifty-nine-year assignment” to “achieve Atonement”. In this essay I
will therefore discuss to what extent Briony becomes a victim of her own crime as much as
Robbie Turner, her victim.
As we are introduced to Briony it becomes clear that she is somewhat of a “prima-donna” as
stated by Cecilia in Chapter 11, wanting to “lie alone, face-down on her bed and savour the vile
piquancy of the moment”, with the verb “savour” and adjective “vile” representing Brionyʼs
aching need for attention due to her young age and upper-class lifestyle. Immediately, McEwan
creates a sense of danger surrounding Brionyʼs age as he states that she “inhabited an ill-
defined traditional space between nursery and adult worlds which she crossed and recrossed
precariously” with the dangerous verbs “crossed” and “recrossed” suggesting that it may be
Brionyʼs age which causes her to commit the crime which changes hers and the other
characters lives so immensely. She attempts to appear mature at times by putting on a white
“muslin dress” however immediately contradicts this as she wipes her dirty hands on the white
material. Additionally, when attempting to say the word “genre” she mispronounces it so that
Cecilia does not understand her. In Part I, it therefore becomes clear that Brionyʼs youth is a
source of irony in the novel acting as an inside joke between the narrator and reader for
comedic effect in the novel. This is one of the first red herrings in the novel of the tension
between the narrator and narrative itself (hinting that Briony may be the author), and this focus
on her age and the immaturity which comes alongside it may be what causes her to commit the
crime. This causes the reader to question whether it is Brionyʼs immaturity and youth which
causes the crime to occur making her a victim of her young age and the misunderstandings
which come alongside it.
During Chapter 3, as we watch the fountain scene through Brionyʼs eyes parallels can be made
to L P Hartleyʼs ‘The Go Betweenʼ where a child in a hot summer setting moves between two
lovers misunderstanding their sexual relationship. As Briony watches the fountain scene she
