Atonement

Question 1

What is ‘Atonement’s’ plot shadowed by?

Answer 1

Atonement’s plot is shadowed by Western Europe’s violent twentieth-century history

Question 2

What war is memorable at the start of the novel?

Answer 2

World War 1

Question 3

What is the later plot dominates by?

Answer 3

World War 2

Question 4

Why did McEwan write ‘Atonement’?

Answer 4

He wrote Atonement with intense fear as well as excitement. He knew he was exploring new ground, another country.

Question 5

What is the setting of ‘Atonement’?

Answer 5

1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England

Question 6

What literary period is ‘Atonement’ set in?

Answer 6

Between 1935 and 1940

Question 7

What type of novel is this?

Answer 7

Post-modern

Question 8

When was it published?

Answer 8

2001

Question 9

What did the modernist era centre around?

Answer 9

A search for meaning and truth

Question 10

How do modernist writers present the world?

Answer 10

 Fragmented
 Troubled
 Edge of Disaster

Question 11

What were modernist writers experimental with?

Answer 11

Form

Question 12

What is a strong characteristic of McEwan’s novels?

Answer 12

An unreliable narrator

Question 13

What is the novel about?

Answer 13

Atonement is a novel about a writer and writing and these are subjects McEwan returns to regularly in his works, employing writers as characters and challenging the distinction between fiction and reality

Question 14

What aspects of treatment of women did McEwan explore?

Answer 14

▫ Transformation of womens roles, 1935-1999
▫ Cecilia’s mother is critical of her studies and always tries to find her a husband
▫ Rape scene: ultimate act of male abuse and subjugation of a woman
▫ WWII: women began to fill jobs by men who left for war.