The Self-transcendence Of Modern Sisyphus In The Absurd World:An Existential Interpretation Of Atonement

Ian McEwan is widely regarded as Britain's national writer,whose novel Atonement is generally acknowledged to be his best work up till now.Abundant researches have been done both at home and abroad on its techniques like narrative ethics,unreliable narration,and metanarrative,and its themes like confession and atonement,war and trauma,class and so on.This thesis,based on the research findings above,attempts to explore the existential themes of Atonement,which this thesis considers are adequately represented in the novel.It is hoped that an existential interpretation of the novel will expand its thematic study and the study of McEwan.With the guidance of the theory of existentialism,a detailed study will be conducted in four aspects: first,the absurdity in the novel,which is mainly reflected in Robbie's destiny,the war,and the marriage of Marshall and Lola;second,the anxiety of the protagonists Briony and Robbie;third,the theme that “hell is other people”;and finally,the freedom of choice and responsibility of Briony and Robbie.Through the analyses above,the thesis finally concludes that Atonement is a novel with such profound existential themes which represent McEwan's philosophical view of life,especially his deep concern over human existence and the meaning of life.