The Response-inviting Structure Of Atonement

Ian McEwan is one of the most influential contemporary English writers. He is skilled at the detailed and delicate description of his characters’inner state and has actively explored issues of sexual violence, incest, murder, good and evil. His works can be divided into two periods:early works that focus on depicting the dark side of characters’ psychology, and later works that combine the psychological description with social reality so as to address more serious issues such as family lives, moral and ethical vulnerabilities, historical interpretations and cultural conflicts and so on. As one of McEwan’s important works, Atonement has received widespread praise and many awards abroad since it was published in 2001. In 2007, it was adapted to a film, which has helped making the novel popular among Chinese readers and critics. Based on previous studies, this paper attempts to examine the response-inviting structure of the novel.This thesis consists of four chapters.Chapter one begins with a brief introduction of Ian McEwan’s background, works and achievements. And the purpose of this paper is also illustrated in this part.Chapter two is literature review. It starts with a summary of the relevant studies of Ian McEwan and Atonement. And on the basis of the related researches, it can be found that even though a few critics have touched upon the response-inviting structure of the novel, a systematic study of this topic is yet to be done. Following this, a review of Reception Aesthetics is made, with special attention to one of its most important concepts, the response-inviting structure, which provides theoretical basis for this study.Chapter three discusses the response-inviting structure in Atonement from the following three perspectives:narration, irony and non-chronological timeline. Firstly, through the interpretation of the response-inviting structure in narration, it can be found that McEwan breaks the traditional way of narration in order to attract readers’ attention. At the same time, this interpretation shows that the use of juxtaposition of texts, reality and imagination as well as multiple points of view frequently negates readers’ previous understanding. Thus, more active reading is required in order to understand the text and complete the production of the meaning in the novel. Secondly, irony, including the irony of Lola and Paul Marshall’s marriage, the irony of the war and the irony of the main character Briony, forms its response-inviting structure and leads readers to make a further exploration of the novel. Thirdly, the use of prolepsis and analepsis which shows the non-chronological timeline in the novel leaves lots of blanks and space for readers’ participation and the production of the meaning.The conclusion part points out that the response-inviting structure constructed from different phases in Atonement generates plenty of blanks and space. And these blanks and space call for readers’participation so as to complete the production of the meaning in the novel. All in all, the response-inviting structure in Atonement not only enriches the characters and deepens the themes, but also reveals McEwan’s profound insight into history, society as well as the will of common people.