Man's Struggle For Atonement

People make mistakes. Some mistakes are minor, such as a child losing a new sweater at school. Others are major, such as driving drunk and killing someone. No matter the mistake, we expect an apology and the one the mistake is made to is expected to apologize. Yet, human nature makes it difficult to apologize or absolve others. Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement, beautifully illustrates man’s desire and struggle for atonement and forgiveness. The characters in the novel all deal with their need to move forward from past pains in different ways. Through a series of paramount events, man’s desire for redemption and forgiveness shows itself in the actions and inner-desires of Briony, Robbie, and Cecilia. The immense guilt Briony, the main
Robbie suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from his time in prison and his exposure to death and violence in war. He suffers from flashbacks, shows aggression, and most notably, has difficulty forgiving others. A comprehensive study completed in 2008 shows that those with PTSD had, “a higher inability to forgive” (Cohen). Some people struggle with forgiveness because of their pride or out of fear. Because Robbie suffers from PTSD, he finds it difficult to absolve others, especially Briony, the one who inflicted him with so much pain. Robbie’s hardship is obvious when Briony comes to ask for forgiveness. When he questions why she wants clemency all these years later, Briony responds with, “‘Growing up’” (323). Robbie tells her in response, “‘Growing up... Goddamnit! You’re eighteen. How much growing up do you need to do? There are soldiers dying in the field at eighteen. Old enough to be left to die on the roads. Did you know that?’” (323). Robbie has seen traumatizing scenes while serving in the military. He witnessed death and unimaginable pain. He believes that it is because of Briony that he was exposed to those things. Therefore, due in part to his PTSD and human nature, he finds it nearly impossible to clear the air with Briony. He believes that at her age, she should be
This anger causes her to cut her family off. Cecilia’s initial anger is justified because her family has read her private letter to Robbie. She notices, “the letter … exposed on her mother’s lap, and Cecilia was on her feet, then moving toward them... ‘How dare you! How dare you all!’... ‘It belongs to me… You have absolutely no right!’” (167). The letter is a piece of evidence that becomes incredibly important to establishing Robbie as a rapist. The letter contained a recollection of Cecilia and Robbie’s passionate romance in the library earlier that evening. She is hurt that her family violated her privacy and used something personal against her to imprison the man she loves. Her mother tells her she should have come to her sooner with this information to avoid the rape in the first place. Instead of comforting her distressed daughter, Cecilia’s mother blames Cecilia for her niece’s rape. This lack of sympathy causes Cecilia to lash out and cut her family out of her life. Briony, the one who gave her mother the letter, manipulates this situation to boost her own ego. Briony believes her actions put a dangerous man in jail. Cecilia realizes this and decides to shut her family out from her life. Even years later, she tells her sister, “‘Don’t worry about that… I won’t ever forgive you’” (318). Despite Briony’s attempt to apologize and move past this