Growing-Up In Atoning: A Tentative Study Of The Characterization Of Briony In Atonement

Ian McEwan is celebrated for the detailed and apt description of his characters' inner state. In his ninth novel, Atonement, McEwan tells a story about how Briony atones for her unjust accusation of her sister's lover Robbie. McEwan vividly depicts the development of Briony's inner world at different ages. And Briony appears in the novel as a child, an adolescent, and an adult, embracing the theme of growth.The present author studies Atonement on the basis of Freudian personality theory, and attempts to shed some light on the development of Briony's psyche. Briony's behaviors result from the interactions of her id, ego and superego. She releases her energy by developing the defense mechanism—sublimation to alleviate her anxiety. As a result, she creates an artistic masterpiece and perfects her personality. Furthermore, the present author finds out that adolescents often appear as protagonists in McEwan's novels and their growth is also the focus of his works. Since Briony's experiences from an adolescent to an adult correspond with the pattern of an initiation story, the present author discusses Briony's perplexity and frustration in her growing process and interprets Briony as a typical heroine of an initiation story.The thesis arrives at the conclusion that Briony perfects her personality in the process of atoning through writing, and becomes more mature and wiser, though she can merely "atone" for her guilty conscience in her fictional world. Meanwhile, through telling such a story within a story, the author of the novel, McEwan, not only shows his concerns for the theme of growth, but also makes the reader reflect on the boundary between fiction and reality.