The novel Atonement , written by Ian McEwan, touches upon the topic of the significance of writing. The author uses various literary devices to convey many themes within the novel. Using the omniscient narrator, the author strives to show a person’s emotions who tries to atone the sins through writing. The image of the main character of the novel, Briony, shows how the writing can help people to accept their own sins. The author uses the different types of irony and omniscient narrator mode to reflect the idea of alleviating grief and guilt through writing.
The significance of writing and narrative to coping with guilt, loss, or trauma is expressed primarily through two literary devices. The first one is the irony: situational and verbal. The irony is a satirical technique by which the writer evaluates the subject involving double meaning. The truth lies not in the statement but in its opposite meaning. The author uses verbal irony to convey the emotions of the characters in more detail. “Now you’re sticking to the salad while the rest of us are suffering” (121). This type of irony is used to condemn the narrator’s behavior. Such writing structure is a way to plead guilty in the actions causing the sufferings to others. “When the wounded were screaming, you dreamed of sharing a little house somewhere” (227). This quote also contains the narrator’s conviction to her actions against the loved ones.
Creating a novel, the narrator wants to grant characters the opportunity to live lives they had no chance to live. The narrator emphasizes that she has stolen the lives of the people she loved. People cannot be brought back to life, and the narrator has no chance to be forgiven. Thus, she creates a novel where she can atone her sins. The situational irony is used to depict the narrator’s remorse trying to use the writing to cope with the loss. At the end of the book, the narrator confesses that the reuniting of characters had never happened (310). The happy ending exists because she decides to atone for her own sins through the novel. Being unable to change their lives, the writer creates a new life for these people in the story.
Another element helping to express the mentioned topic is the omniscient narrator mode. In such novels, the narrator simultaneously acts as a character and identifies himself with the first person pronoun “I”. Such a narrator makes it possible to effectively express the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, hidden and inaccessible to an external observer, opening the way to various forms of self-observation. “How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God?” (325). This example shows that the narrator considers writing as an alleviating measure helping to overcome the loss. However, the narration mode allows the reader to understand that the narrator wants to be with the loved ones and cannot overcome being separated with them. Actually, the reader realizes that the atonement was impossible for the narrator. Through writing, she devotes her life to the people whose lives she ruined. Even though Briony’s mental trauma cannot be potentially atoned, she alleviates her grief and guilty through writing.
The discussed issue is vital for me personally and the whole society in terms of understanding the writer’s emotions. Life is uncontrollable, and many events that haunt people all their lives may occur. Everyone finds their own way to overcome the traumas. Writing is the perfect opportunity to stay faithful to loved ones and express one’s regrets. It is morally relieving when the audience reads and accepts the author’s confessions. For me, writing may help stay morally stable and remember losses and tragedies, which is vital for the ethical development and cultural heritage transferring of society.