Atonement Persuasive Speech

Atonement
What happens when one does not atone for what they have done? To atone something means to make amends or reparations; to fix what has been broken or ruined. For example, if a mistake is made and the consequences are severe, was there a point where it could have been avoided? What if the truth had been told, would the consequences be less severe? Guilt is such a universal emotion felt by almost everyone and one of the only ways to rid oneself of guilt is to atone for what they have done. Situations involving atonement are present throughout everyday life in various forms of news stories, entertainment, and history. Life, for some people, can become increasingly harder to live when individuals do not atone for their mistakes due to

the fact that it is only up to the person themself to atone.
In the past two years, a major court case involving famous comedian Bill Cosby was brought to the public eye. Cosby’s sexual assault allegations, brought on by nearly 60 women, shows how a situation can go from bad to extremely appalling.

Bill Cosby, a renowned and loved comedian, lost his credibility, had titles with acclaimed colleges revoked, and worst of all: Cosby damaged his public image beyond repair. These allegations of rape, sexual abuse, drugging women, and all-around sexual misconduct continue to haunt him as he keeps silent on the case that surrounds him. What if Cosby spoke at length about the allegations instead of simply telling the public "I don't talk about it" (Rhodan, “Bill Cosby on Rape Allegations”, time.com)? This goes to show that atonement is an important element of life. The myriad of women who bravely came forth to tell the truth would have an easier life, with the chance to have to closure. Cosby refuses to speak truthfully about his actions or cooperate with the public and the women, leaving many to conjecture about his guilt. As of April 2016, Bill Cosby will go forward in a preliminary hearing on May 24, 2016 where he is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting women. There is no set date for the trail yet, but it would be in the latter portion of 2016 or early 2017. As a

parallel to Bill Cosby’s case, another famous case was brought to light in 2015 with the movie Black Mass. In fact, the quite opposite occurred with this case. When James “Whitey” Bulger and his associates were caught with providing information to corrupt police officers, two people that were involved received lenient sentences. One of Bulger’s associates, Kevin Weeks, informed the police of Bulger’s actions in exchange for lenience. Another real-life character in the movie, John Morris, informed the police of crimes committed by his partner John Connolly along with Bulger’s associates. In exchange for his testimony to the police, Morris was granted immunity during the trial. While these actions are not the main focus of the film, it shows that life could in fact be better if attempts are made to fix mistakes.
In more real life situations, atonement is either the thing that makes or breaks you.

For Shaka Senghor, his life was changed by atonement. When Senghor killed an innocent teenager, he knew that it would permanently affect his life; but who would it be up to when it came to how Senghor lived his life after the murder? Would he live a life full of anger or work to become a better person? It was ultimately Senghor’s decision of how he would live his life. Senghor knew “that wasn't the end of [his] story … it was beginning … and is a story of acknowledgment, apology and atonement.” (Why Your Worst Deeds Don’t Define You). Senghor’s idea of atonement is through reading and redemption. Senghor believes that everyone is redeemable, despite how ghastly or simple their crime is. By working hard to educate and better himself, Senghor is now a college lecturer and is a substantial vocalizer for prison reform. This is a perfect example of how important atonement is in life. Being in prison is one of the toughest things someone can do. For Shaka Senghor to make a realization that he needed to do something about his life is such an important milestone in life. Senghor made a conscious decision to rethink his life when he realized he did not want to be seen as a murderer, but instead a man who made mistakes he needed to fix. If more people followed by example, there would be more ideas for reformation and redemption - people would have so many more opportunities if they realized how many

different ways it is possible to atone. According to Senghor, “anybody can have a transformation if we create the space for that to happen” (Why Your Worst Deeds Don’t Define You) meaning that it is up to the person to made the mistake, and only up to that person, but it can only transpire if they make the effort and attempts at atonement. Atonement is now always caused by the person it affects, but sometimes it is someone else who causes a problem that cannot be fixed by them. In movies, however, atonement is a repeated theme as well as in real life. In the famous 1982 movies, Poltergeist, the issue of a haunted house is not caused by the family themselves but instead the housing developers. In the movie, the Freelings move into a new community where the houses were in fact built on an Indian cemetery. The Freelings were lied to, when they find out that “[they] left the bodies and [they] only moved the headstones” (Poltergeist). When the Freelings tried to fix the mistake that the developer created for them, it ended up not working. The paranormal works they Freelings bring into the house end up being affected by the poltergeist as well. Even though this is a completely fictional movie, this happens in real life too - trying to fix someone else’s mistake will not help them, it is up them the one responsible in order to atonement to be achieved.
Atonement is a prominent theme in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, Frankenstein. This novel shows exactly what happens when mistakes are not fixed. Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that he feels, in no way, he is ready to take care of. After Victor creates the monster, “the beauty of the dream had vanished and … horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Shelley, 47) , he runs away, leaving the monster to his own devices. In fact, the monster wanders across lands by himself and is blamed for a few deaths in the villages he visits. Later in the novel when Victor visits the monster, he is asked to create a companion for the monster. Victor goes back on the deal so the monster vows to get revenge out of anger. After a tumultuous couple of years, the monster kills Victor’s best friend Henry and soon-to-be wife Elizabeth, leaving Victor to blame himself for the deaths. Killing Henry and Elizabeth through rage are the monster’s sense of atonement. It seems as if it is a sense of karma since Victor did not truly help his monster. At the end of the novel Victor dies with regret since “even the enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; [he] is alone” (Shelley, 184). Since Victor did not follow through on his deal with the monster, he ended up losing two people that he loves dearly. If Victor completed the monster’s companion, he would not have seen the monster again. At the end of the novel, Victor dies with “[s]eek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one” (Shelley, 182) on his lips. Victor regrets what he created and wish he had not given into the temptation to become a God-like figure. He made no efforts at atonement
For some, atonement comes too late in life. In Ian McEwan's novel, Atonement, young Briony Tallis makes a false rape accusation of family friend Robbie, which ruins his life. After Briony's accusation, Robbie is sent to jail and then sent into battle during World War II as an alternative to serving jail time. While Robbie is away, Briony realizes the mistake she made that ruined the potential happy life Robbie and her sister, Cecilia, could have had. During Robbie's time in the war, he contracts a deadly infection and dies just hours before rescue while Cecilia dies in a flood caused by bombings. As a means of trying to right her past, Briony writes a novel in order to achieve her atonement realizing that "a person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn, not easily mended" (McEwan, 287). To Briony, writing is "a kind of soaring, an achievable form of flight, of fancy, of the imagination" (McEwan, 147), a means to do anything she wanted; in this case, she finally fixes the mistakes she created. She writes as a way to, in her mind, let Cecilia and Robbie finally live a happy life she wrongfully interfered with. For Briony, her mistakes came from a series of misunderstandings. Briony makes a false rape accusation in order to try to protect Cecilia, leads to more and more misunderstandings between every, and in this, she ruined two lives and numerous relationships in her family. More often than not, when someone makes a crucial mistake they put not only themselves but others in trouble. Many people most likely live their life like Briony, full of guilt and feeling burdened by the mistake they made. Making an enormous mistake like this often has results like Briony, where her family discreetly despises her for what she has done.
Atonement is an incredibly important component of life. People atone for their mistakes whether it be in private, in confession, to someone they have wronged, or in various other situations. Out of these outlets to achieve atonement, people atone for various reasons whether it be out of religious beliefs, fear, anxiety, extreme guilt, or even just slight guilt. Everyone is different when it comes to mistakes and life, for numerous people, would be easier if they had atoned for what they have done. Since guilt is a universal emotion felt by everyone, it is important to own up to mistakes and work to make things right. Simply saying “sorry” is not atonement. To truly atone is to put in time and effort in order to work for forgiveness. Since the person to made an error is the only one solely responsible for fixing it, it is also up to them to know if they truly achieved atonement. Maybe for some people it really is saying sorry, maybe that is all they need to clear their conscience. There is no set standard on how far someone has to go to achieve atonement. Atonement is portrayed so often because everyone can benefit from learning how life can change depending on whether or not mistakes are fixed.
What makes atonement so important is the effort that goes into it; to simply brush off what was done is to say that it was not something that affected anyone and it is not worth apologizing for or working to gain forgiveness from. Refraining from atonement will not only ruin relationships with others but the identity one has with themself. Will they be known as a deceiver and a liar, someone who is known to hurt others without apologizing for it? They damage not only others but themselves as well. Making amends will not only fix a relationship, but it will also clear the conscience of any anxiety or guilt that has been caused by whatever error occurred. It is important to remember that in life, realizing that it is not what occurs during life that matters but how the end results. No one wants to die with regret and guilt, full of anger over something that could have easily been resolved. Sometimes working for atonement works and it does not, but it is the thought and the effort that counts towards it and lets people know and they are worth the time and effort.