An “Atonement” for the author

My first impression of one of the most praised Ian McEwan’s books - “Atonement”- was not very positive. But as time passed and I thought a little more of the story and the idea I came to the conclusion that after all the book is not that cliché. What I found intriguing was the idea of the authorship seen through the states of maturing. What I mean is that the process of writing is linked with the process of growing. In other words, the unstable carried away lost in fantasies young Briony and her fairy-tale-like writing concerned with twisting and reinventing the reality changes through the years in a sensitive, profound, searching answers and atonement writing.

Childhood. Children are popular for their inexhaustible imagination. They tend to transform reality in order to expand the limitations of it. Similarly, the “young” writing is bold and determined, persuasive and often insisting on its own position as the only possible. And as much as “young” writing wants to transform genres, notions, history, literature or reality, it is as much far-fetched and blinded for its own demerits.
Adolescence. This state of both writing and maturing is marked with the initiation into sexual recognition, desires and identification. The taboos of sex are explored and unsealed. The process is not easy and cause doubt and shadows over the perfect imagined world of the ex-child. Sex is a disturbing topic and usually misinterpreted. Briony half-imagines and half-experiences her attraction to Robbie, only to unconsciously avenge his love for her sister by accusing him of being a rapist, causing great tragedy and catastrophe in several lives.
Adulthood. And this is how the story enters the mode of searching - the enormously difficult task of finding the words to formulate the reasons and the right questions; to be insightful enough to see your own faults and mistakes. The quest of writing is extremely hard and acquires painful honesty and sincerity.
As an author Briony searches a truth that is unattainable, but she manages to restore a life for her sister and Robbie, rewriting the story of their lives in her own terms. She escapes reality but yet constructs another one in order to do late justice and to achieve atonement for her mistakes. The author becomes a creator, a demiurge. The whole story from the beginning to the end is Briony’s literary attempt to undo her injustice, to alter reality into linguistic concept where death and war cannot finish the story. And this is her act of seeking atonement.
But is an author bound to achieve it?

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ralica_Luckanova

Коментари

Robert Frost - fire and ice in verse

Some say Robert Frost is one of the most significant poets in modern American literature. Some critics push him in the margins of American literature. In a sense, Frost stands at the crossroads of nineteenth-century American poetry and modernism. He is either modernist but never innovator or his poetry is traditional but in original way. One of the most popular of his poems and usually anthologized is called “Fire and Ice”. The poem was originally published in December 1920 in Harper’s Magazine. And then added into Pulitzer prize winner poetry book New Hampshire. Simple as a theme, mirror like in verse and thought to be inspired by Dante’s Inferno, this poem may as well be read as subjective piece of art inspired by popular theory at that time that regards the end of the world. The main focus is in the emotional aspect of the poem, which makes “Fire and Ice” all time classic and highly preferable piece to read. In the very beginning of the poem a conflict is stated, a conflict ...

Прочетете още

История и разказ в Случаят Джем на Вера Мутафчиева

История и разказ в Случаят Джем на Вера Мутафчиева “Палачът груб, до лакти в кръв, не е ли чиновникът с червени ръкавели, който историята пише? Вечно с работа зает.” К . Кадийски. “Площадът на Бастилията ” Аристотел говори за разказа като m y thos . Митът , с генеративните си способности да създава и обяснява света, се родее както с литературата, така и с историята. Но разказът също може да бъде мит, както вторичният мит е литературна фикция и както писането на историята превръща нейни участъци в митологични. Опълченците на Шипка е “правене” на литературен мит, оповаващ се на ars memoriae ( лат. - изкуството на паметта) . Няма да е пресилено, дори да сведем иносказателното патетично внушение на Вазовия цикъл до изповедното Августиново възклицание: “Велика е силата на паметта!”. И за да не се отдалечаваме прекалено - Батак, като частен случай, който като синекдоха може да се отнесе към цялото Априлско въстание, е типичен пример за историческо събитие, превърнало се...

Прочетете още

Lessons in Chemistry: A Book Review As a young mind, I was enthralled by feminism, its theoretical waves informing not only my PhD but also my stance in life, with the voices of many influential writers, such as Angela Carter, echoing through my academic and broader academic experiences. Naturally, when trapped for hours at an international airport with nothing to do but browse books, I picked Bonnie Garmus’s debut novel. Despite a feminist-centered beginning, my review will not focus on women's rights and injustices. Yes, the book talks plenty about female lives cursed by a male-centered society, forced to live on its fringes because of their sex and because of fear. What I found amusing was the fact that men, who have nothing but crude power to exhibit, are depicted as instinct-driven, jealous, and will-deprived excuses for human beings. No, it’s not me – the feminist bitch, it’s them – violent and tyrannic ‘men’. Only naturally, in such circumstances, a woman full of talents man...

Прочетете още

Imagining of Literature

Търсене в този блог