Relationship Between World War Ii and Atonement

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Since the beginning of time, history has witnessed the horrors of war; this cruel aspect of life has molded nations, destroyed cultures and impacted lives around the globe. As one of the greatest subjects of literature, war examines the complex character of humans; it peers through the essence of human nature and survival. Though this tragic theme is vastly seen within many works of literature, Atonement, a novel that took place in England during the prewar and wartime era, draws parallels between the two worlds of war and its protagonists. The tragic war of the 20th century, World War II, reflects in the novel Atonement, written by Ian McEwan. The brutal moments of war greatly echo upon the turmoil between the central characters Briony Tallis and Robbie Turner and their home England, while also offer insight into the author’s views of war and how they are intertwined within the novel’s plot. In the novel, McEwan constantly switches the point of views of the story. It begins with the main character, Briony Tallis, narrating her life at the young age of twelve. She recounts the events which led to her falsely accusing Robbie Turner, her sister Cecilia’s love as well as their families hired employee, of raping her cousin Lola Quincey. It then switches to years after when Briony has given up her dream to be a writer and instead becomes a nurse who aids in the war. During this time, there was much inner conflict between Briony’s innate desire for attention and her new position as a nurse. Briony wished her duties as a nurse during the war would act as penance for her actions. She was guilt ridden and that guilt was so consuming, so intense that she claims it “refined the methods of self-torture, threading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime." (McEwan 162) It drove her into becoming something she was not, in order to
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