The Traumatic Study Of Atonement By Ian Mcewan

As one of the most remarkable and prominent novelists in contemporary British literary world, Ian McEwan has produced lots of brilliant works which attract worldwide attention. His works often explore the themes such as war, violence, love, evil, death, sex and trauma, which won him the nickname "Ian Macabre’.The novel Atonement is Ian McEwan’s representative work, which reveals the writer’s exploration on trauma, human nature and ethical issues.This thesis intends to make a brief analysis on Atonement through traumatic theory so that we can have a new perspective to review this novel.The thesis is divided into five parts: Part one mainly gives a brief introduction about Ian McEwan, Atonement and trauma theory. Meanwhile,it elaborates on LaCapra’s analysis about historical trauma and structural trauma and further introduces the conception of "loss” and "absence".Chapter one explores the historical trauma (loss), which is reflected in the form of war in the novel. Chapter two works on the structural trauma(absence), which is represented by dysfunctional family factors including the absence of father and the absence of ordered marriage relationship.Chapter three presents that Briony chose writing as a positive treatment to recover from trauma. The conclusion points out that neither of historical trauma or structural trauma can be fully eliminated. By confronting trauma,we can develop a new understanding about life and other people and reach a new ethical level in our lives.