Ambiguity Of Briony In Atonement

Ian McEwan’s Atonement is a novel central to the moral ambiguity of the protagonist Briony. Briony, only thirteen at the beginning of the novel, acts prematurely on her misconception of the adult relationship that exists between her older sister Cecilia and her star crossed lover, Robbie. After witnessing an intimate moment between Cecilia and Robbie and after her cousin Lola gets raped, Briony submits a false testimony accusing Robbie of rape, labeling him as a sex “maniac.” The beginning of the text characterizes Briony as too juvenile to understand the implications of her actions, and attributes her mistakes to her lack of understanding of what an adult relationship looks like. However, McEwan also characterizes Briony as desperate for attention and unfulfilled. Briony’s paradoxical characterization of both acting in the interest of her

This compassion for her sister is highlighted when Briony established her relationship with her older sister, illustrating a scene when Cecilia would comfort her when Briony would have bad dreams. Cecilia almost assumes this motherly figure for Briony in this scene, and their relationship seems invulnerable. Later in the text, Briony interrupts Cecilia and Robbie having sex in the library, and completely misreads the situation. She is described as being “propelled from the depths of her ignorance, silly imagining and girlish rectitude.” Clearly too premature to interpret the situation with a clear head, she attributes her future decision of persecuting Robby to her young age and desire to “protect” and “admonish” Cecilia (Pg. 183). Briony is seen as too naive to fully understand the relationship put before her, and is portrayed as fully believing that she is protecting her sister, who is a very important figure in her life. This aspect of her characterization is seen as “all good,” however other sections of the text suggest