Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between time and memory in McEwan's novel Atonement and the role the three different kinds of time figuration play in constructing the harmony among characters, authors and readers. Atonement is another masterpiece after First Love, Last Rites and Amsterdam, for it gains several literary prizes: the Smith Award, the National Book Critics Circle and Santiago European novel Award. In Atonement, McEwan describes the protagonist Briony's memory dilemma through disrupting the linearity and stability of narrative and readers are often caught in a Foucault-like maze in reading. Ricoeur's interpretative theory of mimesis and figuration provides a new hermeneutic dimension to the interpretation of the text and an alternative perspective to the reader. In fact, the understanding of the novel can be helped by the dynamic cycle of figuration chains including prefiguration, configuration and refiguration. In prefiguration, the underlying reasons for the central event in Briony's memory are introduced. The key links between historical and individual events, the past and the present, the main and messy plots scattered throughout the novel could be organized by emplotment in configuration. In refiguration, Briony's reconstruction of the same events is achieved by meta-narrative strategy. To sum up, the time figuration model contributes to the interpretation of Atonement and the analysis of the figuration strategy provides possible spiritual sustenance for the child who experiences traumatic events in the early stages.
Highlights
The publication of Ian McEwan (1948- )’s novel Atonement causes strong repercussions: Atonement is named one of the 100 greatest novels by Time Magazine in 2005 and it has been adapted into an American film with the same title in 2007
In order to atone for this mistake, Briony spends her entire life in writing the Atonement
After the publication of Atonement, scholars begin to focus their attentions on psychoanalysis
Summary
The publication of Ian McEwan (1948- )’s novel Atonement causes strong repercussions: Atonement is named one of the 100 greatest novels by Time Magazine in 2005 and it has been adapted into an American film with the same title in 2007. McEwan prefigures and paves the way for the relationship between characters’ emotions and weather, because these two factors exacerbate the formation of Robbie’s tragedy Briony begins her memory in that long and hot summer of 1935. The time layout in the novel, plus class, emotional and weather prefiguration presents the life and behavior of the Tallis family in a detailed way. These let readers know in advance the living space before Robbie’s arrest, the inevitability of arrest, the overall knowledge of the historical time of World War II and the narrated time of Briony. As a kind of renarrative, prefiguration provides context for Robbie’s arrest, and its role in Briony’s memories cannot be overlooked
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.