Atonement

Atonement is the process of forgiving or pardoning a wrong-doing. I don't believe anyone truely recieves atonement. I think that Briony is the only one to come close to achieveing atonement, and that is only a personal aspect. Briony in true life never seems to attain atonement but it is only in her ficticous novel. I feel this way because throughout the novel from the beginning Briony never truely unvails her wrong-doing, so therefore it is something she is left to live with, and it is only when she begins to speak the truth through her own writing that she may achieve, what I believe is a "false" sense of atonement.

I believe the setting of the book contributes to who doesnt achieve atonement, because during the period of time and the status of the family leads to the prosecution of Robbie, because Robbie is only the son of hired help he is not even questioned before he is carted away. The atonement could have been reach, but it was the avoiding of confrontation that forced Briony to live her life without fully achieving atonement.

Barthelme: My Story

The street is crowded, cold and raining. He walks to catch the bus bumping into people, but none of which he wants to see. He gets to the bus stop, but there's no bus to be found. It's all a blur. He wonders if the bus even comes anymore. His mind is a fog. He continues to wait.

He stands in the rain waiting, hearing and seeing many people go by, and everything eventually starts to run together. It's noise, but not the noise he wants to hear. He begins to look around to see if he could find her, but she wasn't there.

He didn't know what to do. Just as before, he was alone with people all around. He waits a while longer, but he eventually realizes that it's not going to happen. He's fighting a losing battle. While drenched and confused, he yells one last time then continues to walk.