Your Mission:

Another no-holds barred discussion forum, where you prove that you're the most deadly Atonement ninja in the class.
Atonement is, at core, a novel about trying to fix something that’s irretrievably broken. By the time you finish the book, you realize that the whole story is, if not an outright lie, then a very heavily edited piece of Historical Metafiction, in which Briony tries desperately to re-write her life, and those of the people she’s hurt so terribly.

Your blogging mission is to consider the whole novel, but especially the last two sections (“Part Three” and “London 1999") and prove that, ultimately, Briony isn’t a despicable person. In the words of my learned colleague Cox: “Find something about her to like.” And then prove it.

As with the Hamlet blog, make your stand on the issue in an argument of about 500 words, cite textual references, and then make a detailed comment on at least one classmate’s posting, agreeing, disagreeing, or taking the discussion in a different direction. Making references to life, movies, other things you’ve read, etc. are fair game, as long as they’re relevant. (Again, comment right in your blog entry, don't worry about using the comment links beneath your classmates' entries.)

Finally, be sure to clearly place your NAME in the title of your Posting!

Monday, 25 May 2015

Courtney; It's a Happy Ending

Courtney Westbrook
Mr. Breaton
ENG-4U
Tuesday, May, 26, 2015
It’s a Happy Ending
                          The decision weather a novel gets a happy ending or not lies in the power of the writer. This is exactly why not ever novel receives one. In some cases, the roles are switched and the power of whether or not the novel ends on a happy note lies in the reader. The end of this particular book is open ended; there is no real answer or defiant ending. This demonstrates how the power of writing can be used to blur the lines between fact and fiction, and reveal that truth and the concept of a happy ending is relative to one`s perspective.  
                          In the novel Atonement, Briony writes a story about her life that concludes happily and thusly demonstrating her good intentions and kind-hearted nature. This characteristic of Briony can be admired despite her crime and it`s repercussions.
                          At the beginning of the book, when Briony is still recognizably a young child, she mistakes Robbie’s actions towards Cee as a threat. She then proceeds to accuse Robbie of being the person who is responsible for the sexual assault of Lola, resulting in the time Robbie serves in Prison. Robbie has an innocent conscience here and Briony has her family, excluding Cee, turned against him. It was not until part three where Briony came to the realization that she made a mistake in regards to what she did to not only Robbie, but also the realization that she loved him.
                          The love present between Cee and Robbie is strong and tightly tied. Briony does not realize their love until the end of the book; after the ``great-lie`` she pulls. Although this is the case, Briony strives to make things better. She tries to find her own atonement within. Since the death of Robbie and Cee in the real world occurs, Briony is stuck with very little to express her redemption she wishes to attain in the book she writes of her life. ``It is only in this last version that my lovers end well, standing side by side on a South London pavement as I walk away`` (McEwan, 350). This quotation represents Briony`s wish for Cee and Robbie to have a happy ending. She wanted to give them a chance to fulfil their love. ``Who would want to believe that they never met again, never fulfilled their love? Who would want to believe that, except in the service of the bleakest realism? I couldn’t do it to them” (McEwan, 350). Briony’s understanding of her earlier choices that reflected foul outcomes is shown within her words in ‘London 1999’. Although a vast majority of people dislike Briony and her actions she takes, this is reason enough to believe that she deserves at the very least, some redemption and respect. It shows she tried the best she could and that is all anyone could ask for.

Tierney; your blog was very well-crafted and thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I found myself agreeing with most of your points. When a person comes to the realization that they did something terrible wrong, all they wish to do is hide from it. They do not want to face their problems; they’re ashamed of their actions as believably so in Atonement in regards of Briony. Even as Briony’s journey through her career in nursing increased this isolation she put herself in when she says
                                   

She did not want her mother to know about the lowly work she did. Part of  
becoming a nurse was to work for her independence. It was important to her thather 
parents, especially her mother, knew little about her life as possible (McEwan, 261).


By isolating herself from the one person who she cares about the most, it would be one less person Briony could have the potential to hurt. Briony has already hurt Cee, who basically replaced her mother in Briony’s earlier stages of life. Briony cannot bear to hurt another close person in her life. 
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