Atonement Theme Of Crime Essay

In Ian McEwan’s novel ‘Atonement’ part one focuses on ‘the crime’ which could refer to either the rape of Lola Quincey or the miscarriage of justice that lead to the false conviction of Robbie Turner. Part two of the novel continues the theme of crime through the narration of World War Two supposedly from Robbie’s point of view.

The war section in part two is clearly the outcome of the crime in part one as, without the rape and false accusation, Robbie would never have been subject to the “stupidity and claustrophobia” of his prison cell or the “horrors” of war, which he chose in order to lessen the length of his prison sentence. The imprisonment of Robbie and his involvement in the war are a direct consequence of the rape and lies from
It suggests that while writing, Briony not only realises the consequences of her actions but also realises that without the innocent alive, the guilty will never be punished by the law because there is no one who would benefit from revealing the truth. She claims later in the novel that she cannot publish the truth until the people it involves die, expressing that she is unwilling to allow justice for Lola’s rape, subject the “criminals” to punishment from the law or clear Robbie’s name, while the Tallis family are still alive. The fact that the innocent- Cecilia and Robbie- die before the guilty “criminals”- Briony, Lola and Paul Marshall- can be interpreted as a consequence of the crimes and perhaps one of the many punishments for the
This “leg” not only expresses the horrors of war and foreshadows the injury to Robbie’s leg (that eventually causes his death due to “septicaemia”), but also reminds the reader of the original crime, causing the reader to feel sympathy for Robbie as he is actually the victim of injustice and one of the many victims of war- thus not deserving this