Similarities Between Frankenstein And Atonement

Identity is a central theme in both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Identity is the state of being oneself, and the qualities, beliefs and ideas that form a person. The struggle for identity and through that, the loss of innocence and therefore wanting to lose one’s identity makes these novels interestingly comparable, as both have protagonists go through huge mental trauma in their lives that shapes them and their identity in a unique way.
In Atonement, as it is a Bildungsroman, Briony’s struggle for identity is based, to begin with, in her love for writing and creating the “perfect” world, but, as the novel goes on, the desire to lose her identity stems from her loss of innocence and her need to atone for her mistakes.