Log #3

Atonement

Author: Ian McEwan

   There is something terrible happening in the evening. When the family and the guests have the meal together, they find out that the twins were gone. They call the police and goes out to find them. What’s worse, Rolla who is the babysitter of the twins is raped when she tries to find the twins in the forest. Hearing the moan, Briony runs over to Rolla. With the prejudice at Robbie, Briony insists that Robbie is the person who does the sexual assault. Without any evidences, Robbie is arrested by the police due to Briony’s testimony. Little Briony is too young to understand that Robbie has never done something offensive to her older sister, Cecilia. Robbie and Cecilia kiss and hug because they love each other. Sadly, Briony misunderstands their behavior and thinks of Robbie as a sex man.

With the years, Briony grows up and realizes what she has done can never be retrieved. Robbie is sent into the jail. However, the government gives him the chance of joining the army, so Robbie chooses to join the army instead of staying in the jail. With remorse and shame, Briony gives up the opportunity of entering the University of Cambridge. She interns in the hospital which her sister used to work for. At the end of the novel, Cecilia and Robbie reunion and walk along the beach. However, it is all about Briony’s imagine. In the reality, Robbie was died in the war. As for Cecilia, she was died because of the water flood. It is a sad and unfortunate ending.

After many years, Briony gets older and older. She decides to write this story as the novel in order to show her regret toward Cecilia and Robbie. Being interviewed in the TV program, she says that she made the mistake in the reality. She wants to compensate in the fiction. She gives the couple, Cecilia and Robbie, a happy ending at the end of the novel.

The reason of why Briony writes this novel is pretty touching for me. I think everyone will make mistakes. Some mistakes can be retrieved, but some cannot. People always would like to do something to compensate and Briony is no exception. If I were Cecilia, I would forgive Briony for what she has done. This novel not only teaches me the lesson of misunderstanding should be avoided, but also is a good example of our lives. I really like this novel.