Focalization in atonement by Ian McEwan

Thèmes abordés

Focalization, Ian McEwan

Résumé du document

“She felt obliged to produce a story line … Then the scene could be recast, through Cecilia's eyes, and then Robbie's” (41) writes ironically Ian McEwan in his novel Atonement. Focalization in the beginning of the novel follows a particular pattern as a the events that occur are being depicted by different focalizers changing every chapter. Chapters 2 and 3 are focalised through Cecilia's and Briony's eyes, respectively. In this essay we will focus our discussion on an essential event: the incident at the fountain , which is a trigger for the subsequent events.

Its representation more than once by Cecilia and Briony is important because it shows the character's divergent preoccupations and how they shape the characters' experience. Furthermore does it helps us understand Briony's misinterpretation of the scene and her later mistakes and misinterpretations. In Chapter 2 and 3, focalization is used to draw us into two fields of experience of the incident by the fountain. The narration is heterodiegetic as an omniscient third-person narrator relates and describes the thoughts and feelings of the two focalizers: Cecilia and Briony. We see through their eyes.

Extraits

[...] She would re-write the story because she did not understand what happened as her perception of the adult world is limited, or because she prefers a certain version. For instance, writing about the incident, she would “[refuse] to condemn her sister's shocking near-nakedness” (41). Her judgment and understanding is biased. Focalization shows how Briony misunderstands the scene and this helps us understand 1/2 www.oboolo.com her later misinterpretations. Reading chapter the reader is aware of what happened as the incident was first depicted through Cecilia's view and experience in chapter 2. In chapter the scene is focalised through a teenager's eyes. [...]

[...] All in all, focalization in these chapters helps us understand the key misinterpretation made by Briony as she witnesses the incident at the fountain. Chapter 3 gives us an insight of her fantasizing about the event, the flow of thoughts and guesses is stopped when her “sense of obligation, as well as her instinct for order” call her back to reality. The reader might think that her daydream was temporary and innocent while this very moment of the novel will influence her future behavior. [...]

[...] In Chapter 2 and focalization is used to draw us into two fields of experience of the incident by the fountain. The narration is heterodiegetic as an omniscient third-person narrator relates and describes the thoughts and feelings of the two focalizers: Cecilia and Briony. We see through their eyes. Focalization changes from chapter 2 to 3 which gives us access to two different views: the experience of an adult first and a 13 years old teenager's view in chapter three. [...]

[...] Focalization in both chapters highlights the character's diverging preoccupations. Cecilia's concerns are down-to-earth: she is upset that the vase was broken and blames Robbie for that. However, she is also attracted to him and the way she acts is pernicious as she wants to provoke and make him feel ill-at-ease, either because she despise and pretends she hates him or because she wants to seduce him as she has feelings for him. The adults' world is codified, for instance Cecilia cannot say she does not mind the vase was broken because she should care about the priceless object, neither can she tell her love to Robbie or can he tell her his love because they are not meant to be together. [...]

[...] The description is set at street-level view since Briony witnesses the event from distance. The girl hardly understands what she manages to see through the nursery's windows but she “[accepts] that she did not understands” (39). This is a rather paradoxical choice but it can be understood as the girl said she know nothing about the adults world, so it is normal that she does not understand what happened by the fountain, she accepts it. When she tries to understand she draws on her limited experience and misinterprets the scene. [...]