Severe Consequences In Ian Mcewan's Atonement '

Regardless of whether individuals believe in karma, fate, or even destiny, everyone creates their own future. However, when someone interferes in the issues of others, they may leave unharmed while the people they have meddled with suffer severe consequences. In Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Briony Tallis, the unaware, complex, adolescent protagonist, witnesses the rape of her cousin, unable to identify the attacker. Prior to this event, Briony encounters her sister, Cecilia, and Robbie, the son of the housemaid and old friend, having intercourse in the library; therefore, it leads her to believe Robbie is the man who attacks Lola. Briony claims and tells the police she saw Robbie, leading to Robbie in jail, ruining the chances of love for Cecilia

Robbie furiously confronts Briony, telling her, “`You’re eighteen. How much growing up do you need to do? There are soldiers dying in the field at eighteen. Old enough to be left to die on the roads. Did you know that?`” (McEwan, 342). His reaction to Briony demonstrates the pain and grief he endures as a result of her wrongdoing. His rage is arguably the clearest indicator that no matter what Briony attempts to make up for her false testimony, she will be unable to entirely repair the harm she has done. Her guilt will continue to torment her, especially after she knows Robbie will never forgive

After witnessing the passionate nervous scene between Robbie and Cecilia by the fountain, Briony knows “there was nothing left of the dumb show by [the] fountain beyond what survived in the memory, in three separate and overlapping memories” (McEwan, 41). Briony understands that everyone views the world differently, even as a young child. Despite this, she is unaware of the full implications of what she is doing because she is only a child. There is no way Briony knows how she will affect Robbie and Cecilia with her version of the truth. Further, when Briony receives the letter Robbie gave her to deliver to Cecilia, is the point where her childhood turns into adulthood. Before Briony reads the letter, “The very complexity of her feelings confirmed Briony in her view that she was entering an arena of adult emotion and assembling from which her writing was bound to benefit. What fairy tale ever held so much by way of contradiction?” (McEwan, 113). Briony refers to her earlier works as “fairy tales” (McEwan, 40) in the beginning, and the whole book allows the reader to watch her grow both as a person and as a writer. She is aware that she is commencing a new chapter in her life as she eagerly awaits reading the letter from Robbie addressed to Cecilia, hoping to use the letter as inspiration for a more grown-up sense of writing. In consequence, this letter is what gives her the first impression of Robbie as a vulgar, nasty maniac and the beginning