Atonement

Briony Tallis is the protagonist in Atonement. As well as being one of the most important characters, she is revealed as the author of the novel itself. The book is her way to atone for the pain she caused Cecilia and Robbie, meaning that the audience understands events from Briony’s perspective. Briony’s storytelling and the motivation for her writing is vital; her stories ruin Robbie’s life, and then she tries to use the same skills to repair the damage she has done. As such, the entire novel is an exploration of Briony’s relationship with the process of invention. She writes stories, plays, and everything else because she wants to be praised. However, she is too young to truly understand the ramifications of the fictions she creates. When she is writing plays for her brother’s return to the Tallis estate, the stakes are low. When she misunderstands her sister’s relationship with Robbie, she creates a damaging narrative that has consequences she cannot even imagine. After sending Robbie to prison on false pretenses, Briony realizes her error . By then, she can only use fiction to give Cecilia and Robbie a symbolic happy ending, one that her actions and the war rendered impossible.