“McEwan suggests that Briony’s crime can easily be forgiven because she is a child.” To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your analysis relevant exploration of McEwan’s authorial methods.

Questions in paper two tend to have a more general focus on the over-all themes of the text. Since this paper focuses on the novel through the lens of crime writing, students must consistently touch base with the typical elements of crime writing, particularly aspects like guilt/remorse/atonement.One of the most prominent themes in Atonement is forgiveness, and the atoning of a mistake made by Briony in her childhood. Students must look to interpret this question in a fresh way, and not just state reasons she can/can't be forgiven. They should look to challenge the question itself. An interesting take on this question perhaps, would be to consider by whom must Briony be forgiven? By herself? The characters? By the readers? There are essentially three planes to this novel; Briony's "novel", Ian McEwan's novel, and then the real world. It is very important for the students to comment on the framing device that McEwan incorporates into the book, and discuss how that affects their perception of Briony and her crime. They should use evidence like Briony not allowing Robbie and Cecilia to forgive her in her version of events, which proves the extent of her guilt, and hence making her a more sympathetic character. There should also be a further comment on the 'actual real life' tragic deaths of both Robbie and Cecilia within McEwan's story, and the student should discuss the fact that no matter how guilty Briony feels, she still sent a man to his death and tore apart two lovers.Ultimately, a strong conclusion to such an essay would be the idea that the only real interaction is between the reader and the writer, and that the real question should not be whether Briony can be easily forgiven, but rather if Ian McEwan wrote Briony's act of atonement powerful enough to make the readers believe she has made amends for her crime.