MsAbsinthe21 Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 (edited) I'm studying 'Atonement' as one of my HL English books... i'm liking it so far.What do you think about Briony as an unreliable narrator?? Edited March 22, 2011 by MsAbsinthe21 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loeszie. Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I studied Atonement for English HL as well, it's my favourite book from the ones we read up to now.I am actually doing my IOP on the importance of letters (as a structural motif) in Atonement, and my IOP is in one week time. Now I have a question, and I hope somebody can help me. I was going to make a point on how the letter that Briony receives from the Horizon in reply to 'Two Figures by a Fountain' leads to Briony writing her atonement, but today I started questioning myself: am I making a correct statement or does what I am saying make no sense at all? Would be great if someone could give me their opinion! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 She's not unreliable in the sense that she tells events with a purposeful bias - even the title suggests a certain adherence to the truth in terms of the task she sets for herself. And she basically admits which parts of her narrative are true and which are imagined.One of the main themes of the novel, of course, is the reality/fiction divide - within the frame parts of the story are true, and parts aren't, and the additional layer of irony, of course, comes from the knowledge that the whole novel is actually fiction. In a sense a new way to look at the essentially hackneyed theme of the redemptive power of literature (etc).I think calling her an unreliable narrator, though, would be a little simplistic, in view of the novel as a whole. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverEasy Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Yes... an unreliable narrator is one that the reader can't trust. If it be because their morals and psychological state of mind cause them to see things differently, or if they have just made up some aspects of the story (such as in Atonement), if they only give one side of the story,or if they are more than slightly biased, they are still misleading the reader, providing them with false information and therefore are unreliable. Clearly mendacity is abundant in this tale. And though it is true that she admits which parts are mendacious, the fact that said part are made up makes her very unreliable. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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