A Psychoanalytic Reading of Atonement by Ian McEwan (Narrative written by Briony Tallis)

Mainly focusing on postmodern literary theory, I will analyze Ian McEwan’s Atonementand suggest how it becomes a simulacrum due to the protagonist, Briony Tallis taking control of authorship from McEwan and expressing how she is the author of the text. The paper endeavors to analyze Ian McEwan’s self-reflexive novel with the theoretical apparatusprovided by the psychoanalytic theory of McEwan. McEwan designs his novel as a fictitiousnarrative written by Briony Tallis, an aging novelist who wishes to atone for the childhoodblunder that ruined the lives of her sister, Cecilia, and her sister’s beloved, Robbie. This thesis will look at the role McEwan plays as author of Atonement, how main characters Robbie and Cecelia take part within this fictional world and how they become aware of an authorial presence within their lives, how Briony takes ultimate control of the pen and appoints herself into the authorial role, and finally how her text is a simulacrum due to her acts as author.

Keywords:

Ian McEwan , Atonement , British contemporary novel