Ian Mcewan's Atonement: Barricading the Ladder
| Atonement: Barricading the Ladder | |
Daryl Deebrah
ENG 4U1
Ms. C. Kivinen
Due: April 27th 2012
Atonement: Daryl Deebrah April 21/2012
Class conflict is not new. Complications between the classes have occurred many times throughout history and the theme has been explored numerous times different pieces of literature by a variety of authors. However, in Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel, Atonement, he provides the reader with a unique perspective on class conflict. In Atonement, characters such as Emily and Briony Tallis, who represent the educated and elite upper social class, feel a special kinship to others in the same class and to the status itself. They are eager to protect this kinship from other characters such as Robbie Turner who belong to what they see as the unsophisticated, working, lower class. Threatened, the working class will arise to or surpass them in status, Emily, Briony, and other members of the upper social class commit crimes to subdue and suppress the lower working class, thus stopping them from climbing the social ladder any further. Ultimately, Ian McEwan reveals and proposes that the greedy and selfish attitudes of the upper classes along with their fear that their status may be ruined and intruded upon by outside members may be the root of class conflicts and complications.
It is early on in Atonement we see McEwan’s first piece of evidence and hint towards this. Her planned dinner ruined and her twin nephews just run away from home, Emily Tallis’s troubled mind begins to linger on Robbie Turner and how he came to be in the position in her life. “She thought of Robbie at dinner when there had been something maniac and glazed in his look…But really, he was a hobby of Jack’s, living proof of some leveling principle he had pursued through the years…She had opposed Jack when he proposed paying for the boy’s education, which smacked of meddling to
Daryl Deebrah
ENG 4U1
Ms. C. Kivinen
Due: April 27th 2012
Atonement: Daryl Deebrah April 21/2012
Class conflict is not new. Complications between the classes have occurred many times throughout history and the theme has been explored numerous times different pieces of literature by a variety of authors. However, in Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel, Atonement, he provides the reader with a unique perspective on class conflict. In Atonement, characters such as Emily and Briony Tallis, who represent the educated and elite upper social class, feel a special kinship to others in the same class and to the status itself. They are eager to protect this kinship from other characters such as Robbie Turner who belong to what they see as the unsophisticated, working, lower class. Threatened, the working class will arise to or surpass them in status, Emily, Briony, and other members of the upper social class commit crimes to subdue and suppress the lower working class, thus stopping them from climbing the social ladder any further. Ultimately, Ian McEwan reveals and proposes that the greedy and selfish attitudes of the upper classes along with their fear that their status may be ruined and intruded upon by outside members may be the root of class conflicts and complications.
It is early on in Atonement we see McEwan’s first piece of evidence and hint towards this. Her planned dinner ruined and her twin nephews just run away from home, Emily Tallis’s troubled mind begins to linger on Robbie Turner and how he came to be in the position in her life. “She thought of Robbie at dinner when there had been something maniac and glazed in his look…But really, he was a hobby of Jack’s, living proof of some leveling principle he had pursued through the years…She had opposed Jack when he proposed paying for the boy’s education, which smacked of meddling to
Cited: 1. Brewton, Vince. "Literary Theory." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 29 June 2005. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/>. 2. Carlbom, Carolina. “The Complexity of Class.” Lund, Lund University, Spring 2009, Web, 18 April 2012. <http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=1415099&fileOId=1415118> 3. Davis, Barbara B. "Atonement." Questia. Winter 2003. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. <http://http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002519599>. 4. McEwan, Ian. Atonement. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2001. Print.