Ian McEwan: "Atonement" part 1, Appunti di Letteratura Inglese

Scarica Ian McEwan: "Atonement" part 1 e più Appunti in PDF di Letteratura Inglese solo su Docsity! Ian McEwan ○ Born in 1948, in Aldershot, southwest of London ○ Spent most of his childhood abroad, at military bases ○ His father, David, was a Scotsman and a career Army officer: he worked long hours, and little Ian was ● often alone with his mother, Rose, a housewife ○ McEwan’s father was domineering and temperamental, but he loved Ian fiercely ● => He easily became a model of masculinity in Ian’s eyes. ○ However, his father liked to spend some hours of his past time in local pubs where he would drink beers. Also because of this, David turned violent and, as Ian McEwan remembers, the marriage of his parents was “quite troubled,” and there were episodes of domestic violence. ○ He remembers his childhood as a kind of prison, exile. ○ When Ian was 11, his parents enrolled him at an English boarding school and he returned to England. It was a period of maturation for Ian who became fond of literature and psychology. As he enrolled at the University he had started focussing on his two new passions: reading Freud and writing fiction. Upon graduating, he enrolled in a master’s program in comparative literature, at the University of East Anglia, which allowed him to submit stories as part of his degree. From the beginning, his prose had an unnerving discipline and strict control. Descriptions were precise; there was no failed wordplay or tortured metaphors; sentences had a razored gleam. McEwan’s sentences were hypercontrolled, but his themes were lurid, shocking, explicit, scandalous. Because of the disturbing subject matter of his stories, Ian McEwan was soon dubbed ''Ian Macabre'' by the British press. What his readers found particularly shocking in his texts was his portrayal of children, who were never described as little angelic, or innocent creatures, but always as wicked and perverse little animals. Still fascinated by psychology and types of behaviour, Ian McEwan nowadays has turned his interest from perversity towards normality. EARLY FICTIONAL PRODUCTION ○ Dark themes and perverse, shocking material. ○ First 4 works: paedophilia, murder, incest and violence, exacerbated by their troubling narrative framework. ○ Complicity w their crimes, his victims seem strangely implicated in their own exploitation and destruction. ○ THE CHILD IN TIME ■ Abduction of the protagonist's daughter in a supermarket ■ Sudden dramatic episode, whose consequences will be inevitable for the protagonists in the future. ○ THE INNOCENT ■ Mainly set in Berlin, described as a Cold War spy novel, historical novel, a thriller as well as a psychological novel ■ Clash of contrasting elements: the plot shows the opposition between knowing and not-knowing, science and art, adult and child, sexuality and innocence, Communism and Capitalism, US and UK. ○ ENDURING LOVE ■ Joe and Clarissa, a consolidated couple, become witness of the death of an innocent man falling from an air balloon. ■ A psychopath, another witness, falls in love w Joe and this threatens to destroy J and C love-story. ■ Novel short-listed for the Man Booker Prize (= very important literary prize, given each year to English- speaking writers; the Nobel is given for their literary career, whereas the Man Booker Prize is given to a single work of an author) ○ AMSTERDAM ■ though it won the Booker Prize, is undoubtedly one of McEwan's lesser novels.’ ○ ATONEMENT ■ Atonement (2001), generally considered by literary critics as McEwan's literary masterpiece, in 2007 also became the Oscar-winning film version starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. ■ McEwan's historical novel is set in 1935 under the threat of the approaching war. ■ The novel is structured into three sections – the second and third during WW2 – with a coda set in London in 1999 (for this reason, many readers say that the novel is made of 3+1 sections), and triads, triangles and three-way relationships abound in the plot. ○ SATURDAY ■ Set during the time of the English and US's invasion to Iraq ■ Saturday, February 15th 2003 ■ Henry Perowne, 48 yr old consultant neurosurgeon at a central London hospital ○ In her stories everything falls into place at the right time ○ Good distinction between the Good and the Evil characters: the good ones get rewarded in the end; the villains are punished ○ New characters arrive in the stage: the 3 cousins Lola, Jackson and Pierrot ○ Development of the story: arrival described from the pov of Briony, what she thinks of this arrival ■ She's too absorbed in her new task as a dramatist that she's not paying too much attention to her bro's predicament: she's too focused on the creation of her story ■ In her little world, B still thinks of marrying and weddings, these are the important celebrations in her stories, she has never considered divorce: she did not know exactly what that meant on an emotional level, she didn't know the effect of those happenings ■ She doesn't like disorder!! ■ She considers divorce a disturbing issue bc it is not part of her mental order, it belonged to the part of disorder: Divorce = Disorder CHAPTER 2 Switch in pov: Cecilia's pov (Briony's sister) ○ Tallis House: Victorian house described as quite huge; it looks ugly bc it was originally build by Cecilia's grandfather ■ He was very fond of locks: he thought of it more of a secure house rather than a beautiful one ○ Cecilia is 22 years old, Leon is 23 ○ She returns to Tallis house ○ Robbie Turner: son of the cleaning lady; one year older than Cecilia, they have known each other ever since they were little children, like brother and sister; he's very intelligent and even if he's coming from the working class he has had a chance of attending the university of Cambridge, where he studies medicine with Cecilia. ■ Robbie and Cecilia seem to be in an awkward situation between each other: they seem to be ill-at-ease with each other ■ Clear illustration of the problematic situation between the 2 of them ■ Dialogue: they cannot find a proper topic to talk about; he was shy, absent-minded; she seemed to be more straightforward ■ He starts to talk about literature: she's reading Richardson's "Clarissa" and she says that she finds it boring and says she would rather read Fielding instead. ■ Whenever she's back home from Cambridge he takes the responsibility of becoming the house's gardener ■ They are looking at a very important vase in Tallis house, when at one point they both reach out to take it ○ Cecilia seem to be really proud and straightforward: when he commands her to take the flowers, she immediately rejects this kind of behaviour ■ She gives all the responsibility of the accidents to Robbie: he seems to be very embarrassed ■ She wants to go and retrieve the pieces of the broken vase that fell into the fountain: he unbuttons his shirt to get into it but she wants to go and retrieve them herself so she undresses herself ■ She decides to dive herself into the water ■ "punishment" repeated 3-5 times ■ She emerges angrily and suddenly walks away CHAPTER 3 Briony's pov ○ The twins don't want to take part in the play because they are having a difficult family situation (their parents are divorcing): they prefer to play on their own rather than listen to Briony and become part of her play. ■ Briony's frustrated, she's very disappointed because without them she knows that her drama would not be as good ■ She goes in her room and gets lost in her imagination: she starts thinking of what she could do to produce her work: ■ Write a fictional work ■ Write a text that an actor would play in front of an audience ■ She takes shelter in her own imaginary world ○ Multiple Internal Focalization: allows a novelist to repeat the description of a scene for more than once, something that is generally considered a mistake in writing fiction ■ They want to emphasise the importance of subjectivity: a story narrated from a pov may tell us some parts of a story, a different pov can tell us quite a different story ■ Different description of the fountain scene: scene described by Briony: she likes to get lost in her fantasy world, and here she keeps thinking about her stories, where generally there's a marriage proposal so she thinks that Robbie is going to propose to Cecilia ■ She can see but she cannot hear, so she replaces the real dialogue with an imaginary one and she grows convinced that he's proposing: just like in her stories, a man from the lower class wishes to marry a princess ■ He raises his hand and she starts to undress, so Briony thinks he's commanding her in an aggressive way to get undressed. ■ She thinks that it is her business to remain a witness and watch the entire scene: she has a very strong sense of justice that forces her to remain there and watch what happens next without interrupting ■ She doesn't understand because the window is closed and because she's only 13, too little to understand what is actually happening in the "adult world", something she would like to be a part of. She wishes to be considered as a grown up, not a child. ■ Briony understands how easy it is to misunderstand everything CHAPTER 4 Cecilia's pov ○ 3rd person narrator, not omniscient: narrator that adopts the pov of a single character who has limits of what he/she sees, hears, thinks about what is happening ○ She hears footsteps and thinks it's Robbie walking barefoot, but it is Briony, who had just stopped crying: Briony is very used to these self-destructive behaviours ○ She's very amorous towards her sister, completely different behaviour than the one she had with Robbie: motherly attitude towards Briony ○ Leon arrives with a friend, Paul Marshall: encounter w Cecilia: they soon embrace one another and are happy to see each other ○ Paul is the president of a chocolate factory and is a few years older than Leon (25-26 yrs) ■ One of the London tycoons of the age, a millionaire ○ C is telling L about their mother, Emily, who's not feeling well ○ Description of Paul from the pov of Cecilia: ■ He seems to be a little arrogant; wants to show how powerful and rich he is ■ He has bought a new house in London but he's filled with work so he has had no time to go there yet ■ He has a new project in mind: the Army Amo ■ He's accused of being a warmonger (= guerrafondaio) ■ She's thinking about getting married, so she observes young men like him imagining her future with them ○ Leon invited Robbie to dinner and Cecilia is very annoyed by this ■ Leon seems to be knowing his sister so well and after mocking her in the beginning, now he has understood that something has happened between the 2 of them ■ He's making fun of her in front of Paul CHAPTER 5 Lola's pov ○ Lola explains to B her decision not to join the play ○ This episode has a possibility of a twin reading, so we understand that we're reading a story written by a very expert writer ○ Paul offers the twins a chocolate because they're very hungry, but they are not convinced ○ Paul turns to Lola and offers her (and only her) a chocolate using an imperative "bite it!!" so she accepts and eats the chocolate ■ First level of reading and meaning of the story: factory manager offers a chocolate bar to the 15 yrs old ○ She needs to take care of Briony, of her little cousins... And manages to take care of everyone and everything, until she decides it's time for her to get ready for the dinner so she goes to her room ○ Cecilia is crossing is very important transformative section of her life: she's experiencing an age where one starts thinking of moving away from her family and starts cherishing the idea she is creating their own future ■ She finds her life boring and wants to experience something new ■ Time of change ○ Focus of her thinking: moving away ○ She needs an adventure, she is now aware that she needs something new in her life ○ She is dreaming, she's imagining this new adventure away from her family --> one of the key elements in what we call maturity ■ We become mature when we start to take distance from our original family remaining connected to it, but it is important for her to leave ○ She is also quite vulnerable, and this becomes evident now that she's thinking about meeting Robbie for dinner (in the morning she was proud and decisive) ○ She's walking w Leon along the fountain, and here she seems much more vulnerable, she even regrets having been so daring that morning ○ Briony walks towards her and she gives her the envelope, so Cecilia opens it curiously ■ Important revelation for Cecilia ■ Briony gave her a piece of folded paper, not a real envelope. After reading it, Cecilia asks herself whether there was or not a real envelope ■ Cecilia suspects that somebody else has read the letter CHAPTER 10 Briony's pov ● We now understand that Briony has read the letter!! ● The narrator emphasises one important recurrent topic: the contradictory nature of human behaviour ● Briony has mixed feelings about what she's done: ○ she feels guilty for having read the letter, but at the same time she needs to know everything, it is essential, crucial for her to know what's happening to the people around her ○ She's looking for a justification, an explanation for her conduct ● Briony seems to be animated by good intentions, not out of curiosity but because she seems genuinely worried about what could happen to her family: she is worried about what may happen to Cecilia ● B is aware that she's 13 and the content of the letter seems to be something typical of an adult behaviour, she doesn't understand the content, the intentions of Robbie: ○ She's too young to understand this exchange, so she wants to make an inquiry w someone more experienced ■ She asks Lola whether that was inappropriate, dangerous for Cecilia ■ Lola seems to be shocked after reading the letter and she gives her own opinion: --> she claims that Robbie is a maniac (the word "maniac" is repeated for the reader to understand the gravity) ● She seems to be alarmed by his strange behaviour, she spent her childhood w him and now she considers him a monster ● Lola insists that he's a maniac and a danger to the whole family so she wants to show the letter to them ● Briony's walking in the corridor towards the dinner table and stops at her father's library ○ There, she finds Cecilia and Robbie doing something unclear to her, in the dark corner of the room: they are struggling, moving, and when she recognises them she gets really scared ■ He's strong and big whereas she's thin and small; she seems to be his victim. ■ Briony focuses her attention of the terrified eyes of her sister, Cecilia seems frightened ■ When they stop moving, Cecilia frees herself from Robbie's clutch and moves away from him, leaving the room ■ Cecilia doesn't show any gratitude for helping her in that difficult situation, she leaves Briony in the library alone w Robbie ■ She's wondering why he's not making any move, keeping his eyes lowered ■ So she exits the room looking for her sister, but doesn't find her CHAPTER 11 ● Robbie's pov ● He's at the dinner table with everyone else, talking about the weather ● Confirmation that Cecilia's very proud when Leon asked her whether she behaved differently these last days ○ She starts blushing and when Robbie is about to defend her, she speaks up in a very nervous and inappropriate way ○ She's very nervous, even during an event which should be a happy moment with the family ● Robbie gest lost in his memory and starts thinking about what has happened between him and Cecilia ○ Multiple Internal Focalization to show subjectivity: episode of the library now described by Robbie's pov ■ He was walking towards Tallis house and had already given Briony the letter for Cecilia, knowing that he gave her the wrong letter ■ He's very ashamed by his mistake ■ While walking he meets Cecilia, both are very ashamed: he's ashamed for the letter and she for having read it ■ Not easy to start the conversation ■ Conflicting feelings that the characters are experiencing: contradictory state of mind of both of them ■ He feels familiar with her, but at the same time feels like he doesn't know her at all; she was plain, but beautiful; she was like a sister, but alluring like a lover ■ The same happens to Cecilia: if she thinks about the letter she thinks it's stupid, but at the same time it has given her the chance to learn something new about life ○ Cecilia invites him into the library and start a very awkward conversation: he says he's sent her the wrong letter and she tells him that Briony had read the letter, so he apologises ○ He doesn't understand whether Cecilia is angry for the letter or for showing an unapologetic behaviour, she just says yes or no ■ Cecilia's frame of mind remains a mystery for him ■ She's nervous, but most of all she's angry that Briony has read the letter ○ Then she starts talking about her feelings: she felt just like he felt, and that day everything had changed between them. Something about themselves that they kept hidden from their view until that moment had resurfaced [Martin Amis says that McEwan is a master at describing contradictory feelings, the contradictions of the human mind] ● At the beginning she was angry with him, but then wonders why should she be angry when all he did is show her true feelings? ● She seems cross with herself for not understanding what she was feeling before ● They end up "making love" in the library ● The narrator wants to stress how important that moment was for them: they share a blissful moment, a moment full of happiness for both of them because they discovered what they needed in that exact moment "in a state of tranquil joy" ● Completely different description from Briony's ● Cecilia notices that someone had entered the room and tells Robbie, but he doesn't want to believe her ○ She had never hated someone that much ● Then we are again at the dinner table and we understand why Cecilia is nervous, in particular with Briony ○ The twins ask to go to the lavatory ○ Briony notices the twins are wearing her socks and gets angry ○ Cecilia gets angry with her little sister, she's very cross with her, she calls Briony "a tiresome, little prima donna" ○ The twins vanish, they don't return to the table, leaving a short note saying that they're not in the mood for celebrating ○ Then again something is interrupted: the dinner ○ Everyone is alarmed by the twins' disappearance ■ Some rescue teams are made to go look for them: rules are created and people start going in different directions looking for the twins CHAPTER 12 Emily's pov ● Emily's reaction to her husband's behaviour: he's always missing from the family and is almost always in London: ○ She thinks he has a lover