Examples Of Guilt In Atonement

Guilt. It seems in life, guilt is just an unending loop. Once we get into that loop, we’re only trying to get out of it- but we can’t. So, we try to live with it. In the same way, one’s guilty conscience is unending. And so, when it becomes a hint too tormenting, too unbearable to withstand, we succumb to the same act; we ‘try to make amends to ease that guilty conscience’ (Scholarcommons.sc.edu, 2011). After all, in the end, is it not true that the attempt to atone is all that counts?
An interesting thought. One thing’s for sure though; Ian McEwan’s Atonement is not a book easily put down without countless nights spent pondering on the subtleties of language – how they envelop and gift you a profound reflection on such complex aspects of the

human experience. In my case, it was on the nature of guilt. And none other than Briony’s character – that stuck-up personality we know all-too-well – was needed to change my original view completely.
At first, all I had for her was hate. With Briony’s guilt ‘overpowered by her acute determination to defend her accusation’ and as a result, Robbie being used as a ‘sacrificial lamb’, McEwan challenged what is perceived by the naked eye as a thirteen-year-old’s innocence (Scholarcommons.sc.edu, 2011).
Soon learning that she “abandoned herself to a life of strictures” (p.276) – to forget what she realised she had caused – and blatantly admitted that it was mentally, a ‘pathetic source of comfort’ (p.342), it was drawn to my attention that Briony too was simply one who desired to ease her guilty conscience. She felt bad, but she couldn’t atone. How could she, when both Robbie and Cecilia died before she could confront them? It just comes to show that in life, circumstances aren’t always giving – you must work around what is given.