In which Briony admits to making most of this up.... just as she did in the first place with Robbie's "crime."
22 comments:
Brenda A.
said...
Well as I said in the previous blog post. This chapter is depressing. Readers get to know the truth about the book. We find out what happened years after Briony committed her crime. She talks about how she is going to die soon and that the novel itself was a way of atonement for what she did. We see how Lola and Paul ended up after their marriage. And what happened to Leon, Jack and Emily and as well as that twins. We see how their lives ended up as she talks about going to her birthday party. It isn't till the very end that she mentions that Cecilia died in a bombing and that Robbie died at Dunkirk from an injury. She says that the beginning was true that she did commit a crime but that the happily ever after for Cecilia and Robbie never happened. That it was just so that they would at least be happy together in one place even though it is imaginary. Briony states that she wrote this book for atonement for what she did and wrote that ending specifically so that they could have their happily ever after.
Briony ruins everything. She talks about giving Robbie and Cecelia a happy ending, but she doesn't. She doesn't give the characters or the readers a happy ending because for once in her life she decides to tell the truth. Even though I knew what was coming, this chapter was a big bummer. Everything was neatly tied in a bow at the end of the last section and Briony has to unravel that bow.
Briony has tried hard to atone for her mistakes. But she really can't atone through this novel. She created the situations in this novel, she wields the control. No one can forgive her when she is the one creating the reality she lives in. Briony's real atonement comes when she gives Robbie and Cecelia a happy ending, but she doesn't give the character of Briony one. She finally accepts that this wrong will never be righted and that she can't ask for forgiveness. Briony can torture herself all she wants, but that doesn't change the facts. Her atonement comes when she realizes that she will live with it forever.
This final section was extremely sentimental, touching on all aspects of aging. As people grow older, they can’t do what they used to be able to do, and there’s a sense of ending, which leads to fear. When people don’t have so much time left, they want to finish their projects and live life to the fullest. Briony, under the pressure of time, is finally able to finish her novel – an atonement for her crime. At the end of one’s life, things come full circle, which is an unexpected surprise. There’s a sense of continuity and change. Something you did when you were young still has relevance when you’re old – connects one part of your life to another. In the middle of the connection, you can see change, but there are things about your life that are still the same. Briony has grown, but she can see the realization of her talent in writing in Arabella since then. It reassures people that there has been some order in their lives; there are still things to hold onto when other things change. It makes people feel like they haven’t lost everything. Without the age aspect, this is how I feel about Waverly: sad to leave, yet content that I was fortunate enough to meet wonderful people and experience incredible opportunities.
Briony is finally the author she has always dreamed to be. Here in this final section, Briony’s atonement is achieved through the same agent her crime was caused in the first place: imagination, creativity and writing. However, even though Briony’s novel exposes her own crime, Briony also uses her imagination to create a story in which Cecilia and Robbie actually do survive in the end. Thus, Briony uses her imagination to atone her guilt. This ending I thought was more appropriate and meaningful than the one in the movie. I especially liked how the book comes full circle at the end, with Briony’s play being performed at her 77th birthday. Nevertheless, I still hate the ending to this book. Speaking of the ending, the artificial ending reverts Briony back to her thirteen–year–old self. Even at the age of seventy–seven, Briony is still attached to fairytales and order. Briony suffers from her creativity, going as far as referring to herself as ‘God.’ “How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, entity of higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point.” (Pages 350 – 351). The quote spoken by an aging Briony, places Briony herself in a bind because of her ‘absolute power to decide outcomes.’ She asks if she is not ‘also God?’ meaning to the characters and episodes in her book. Well, the truth of the matter is – even though I personally still hate Briony – is that Briony IS God. As an author she has the power to do anything to anyone in any situation. Recognizing this power, Briony concludes that there can be ‘no atonement for God or novelists,’ and only it is the attempt that really matters in the end.
I think that the story should have ended with the last section. I felt that this final section was just unnecessary. If it were not for this part I probably would never have understood that Briony made it all up. I did get a sense of finality from this part; it was interesting to see everyone after they had aged many years. I think that Briony is really naïve for thinking that writing a book where they are happy is enough to make up for causing the death of her sister and childhood friend. Even though I knew the twist of it all being fake I still kind of felt a little cheated. It was like one of those stories where you get really into it…. but wait it’s all actually a dream Another thing that bugs be about Briony is that she still never revealed her secret until everyone it affected was dead. Before they died she never apologized to Cecilia or Robbie or anyone. It would not be sufficient in itself to apologize but it would be a start instead of just cutting herself off from the family and waiting for everyone to die.
This is the part int he book you really have to have some sympathy for Briony. Shes an old woman who knows shes done a lot of things wrong. She should have told people what shes done but she didn't feel there was an option. What we learn is that in the novel when she goes to see them Robbie was already dead and Cecelia was going to be dead soon. So at that point where Briony was ready to face up to her mistakes it was too late. It's wrong of her to feel bad when its too late but sometimes it happens. She sees that she needs to fix things but she needs to do it now in her story. This is how the book ends, her wishing that they could come to her party and decides that she will have them in the story.
Ahhh the end. I had said before that I had wished the story had ended in the previous section, but alas, the story continues on. This chapter's main purpose, it seems, is to tie up loose ends, and it does so quite well. It gave me information that I didn't necessarily want, for instance with the last section I could imagine that maybe all of the events of the book did happen and perhaps Briony was making a note of it in 1999. But this section forces me to face the fact that Robbie and Cecilia are dead and Paul Marshall and Lola Quincy are still alive and kicking (barely in Paul's case). It's not only that the Marshalls are still around, but that the family name is thriving. Also the fact that they are not dead in the ground is preventing the publication of Briony's book is just eternally frustrating. I am so enraged by Briony's character, what she has done and the result of those actions, but I can respect the fact that in the realm of this novel she is trying to make amends. And knowing as a reader that she will not live to see that, puts my stomach in knots. Ending the book with a performance of "The Trials of Arabella" was interesting. If I were the sort of person to read a bit of the end of this story before reading the whole book, I would have probably thought that my suspicious were confirmed about this whole book being about that play. It was like having the play go on was the one thing from that night, that could be put right.
I think this last section, as Ry said, was unnecessary. You tried to give the book a happy ending, but just revealed that it was a fabrication, just like the rest of the plot... I don't know exactly how I should feel, but it definitely isn't good. She feels that by giving them a good fictional ending, she is atoning for her crimes. But look back at her. She became a novelist, and has been writing stories. She makes a living doing what she did when she ruined Cecilia and Robbie's lives. She created a story so she could create order. She became God. This is frustrating, because in the end, nothing good came out of this.
It says in the end that Lola will probably try to stop the book from coming out because she is implicated in it. Something like, you can only libel the dead. Lola is going to outlast Briony, so there is a chance that the book, and therefore the atonement will never come back. Urg, this is so frustrating and annoying.
We finally reach the end of this drama filled novel. Briony is an old woman returning to see her home for one last time. She has been diagnosed with dementia and is looking back at her first and last novel. The play her grandchildren put on in her honor was really cute! Overall it was a nice way to end this book. Briony let her lovers live and never gained her atonement.
And…the book is finally done. I found Part 4 to be a little dull and hard to get through, as well as extremely depressing. I think Briony was clearly in denial about her condition, but just like with Robbie in Part 2, this brand-new Briony seemed to essentially be a different person, and didn’t have much to do with the younger Briony. It was sort of interesting to see how everyone and everything had changed, and it was kind of disgusting how harmless people like Emily and Jackson were dead, and the equally harmless Leon was (I assume) paralyzed, and yet the Marshalls were totally flourishing and successful. (I also liked how artfully McEwan never mentions Robbie and Cecelia when he is listing everyones’ fates.) I hate how the only part of the book-within-a-book’s ending that was true was the marriage.
I thought the ending with the play was sweet, in a full-circle sort of way. I also thought it was nice to see that even after all the horror and destruction that Briony was exposed to during the war, she still had this fantastic, loving extended family to appreciate at the end of it all. But reading about the big plot twist (again), and her comment that she could never really get atonement because she was basically God, made me think. It does sort of annoy me that she can never truly feel better because of that fact, but I guess at least in admitting it, she has achieved something. It seems to me like her “punishment,” so to speak, was writing out that whole fictionalization of her feeling guilty, and not even allowing the imaginary Cecelia and Robbie to forgive her in the end. She has finally acknowledged that nothing can be done anymore but apologize, and while that must feel so horrible, that horrible feeling is what she has inflicted upon herself so as to pay for the crime. I feel like I’m starting to go in circles here, but does that make sense?
Anyway, I have to say that despite the opinions of everyone else in the class, this book was tragic and thought-provoking, and I loved it.
I feel that this part of the book was made just to make anyone who thought that a happy ending was possible feel stupid. As a reader you find out that Robbie is alive and you’re happy that Cecilia and Robbie actually were able to stick together through the extremely rough moments of their lives. But then Briony lets us know, “I made that all up just to let you know what I think they deserved but never got”. This is ridiculous because in real life if something never happens you can’t just erase the parts you didn’t like and fill them in with fiction. Briony still acts like a little girl even at age 77.
Wow way to go Briony! Just had to ruin everything for everyone! While I knew this section was coming it didn't really help me feel any better when I read it. It almost seems cruel the way she gives the reader such a nice wrapped up ending and then throws it in the readers face. In a way I'm inclined to see it as another example of Briony's self-centered thinking. It wasn't enough to just give a nice ending for Robbie and Cecilia and tie the whole thing off. No, she had to go on and talk about all her problems and how she is the poor poor victim of everything. While it's true Briony isn't the only one to blame for her crime I still can't find myself forgiving her because of her attitude. Briony comes off as this weak character who becomes headstrong when she decides to do things that make her life easier or make her seem more important and special. If she had been a stronger character she would have talked to Cecilia when she had the chance, she would have admitted to her crimes when she made her mistake, and she may have even never committed her crime if she kept her nose out of other people's business.
A very disappointing section I must say. Even though I knew this was coming the ending seemed so unnecessary. Apparently Ian McEwan decides to become M. Night Shyamalan briefly and add a twist. The twist seemed unnecessary and kind of contrived, although it does add layer upon layer of meta-y goodness throughout the book it just seemed to come out of nowhere. What benefit as a reader do I get from knowing that what I read was all fiction? Well, okay, I know it’s already all fiction written by a real author and not a character in a book, but you know what I mean. Although I know that McEwan put a lot of effort into layering the story within a story business, the twist seemed very last minute. Like it was added in right before he sent it to the editor to fill up some pages or something. It’s like one of those twists at the end of movies that aren’t really twists; they’re just like, “Oh, it was a dream the whole time.” That kind of stuff just seems lazy, obviously not in this case but still it seems that way. But it is kind of beautiful that Briony’s form of atonement is to create a world, in the only way she knows how, where Robbie and Cecilia are together and happy for all eternity, forever in love in the world of literature. To tell you the truth, the more I think of it the less of a shitty ending it becomes. However, it is still a very odd decision to end the book like this. But what do I know I’ve never written a book in my life.
I miss the happy ending. I'm a sucker for romance and I was content having Robbie and Cecelia together again. The end of the book kind of fit the overall theme of the novel. It was depressing but Briony finally got her atonement through writing her book. Even if she didn't think so, I thought it was sad how she was getting sicker and sicker with old age. I enjoyed how Briony got to have a final creative flow when she modified the end of her story and kept the two lovers alive and happy. It reminded me of the beginning of the novel, both in Briony's creative nature, and the happiness of that Robbie and Cecelia share.
I was impressed by McEwen’s using Briony’s mental degradation as an ending point to the book. It’s horribly depressing, the prospect of losing memories, not being able to recognize familiar faces or places. For a writer, especially, the idea of losing language is horrifying. Briony knows that she won’t live to see her manuscript published. The whole idea is terribly disturbing and frightening, but I think it was an appropriate ending to this particular story. I’m not saying that Briony deserved it; I don’t think anyone deserves that. But for the ultimate purpose of the book, this situation perfectly encompasses the moral I think McEwen is trying to get across. Human perception is impermanent, indefinite, and most of all, imperfect. Briony’s losing the capability to perceive underlines the mortality of anyone’s individual point of view. Unless, of course, it’s written out on paper. An author really is the god of the miniature world he or she creates within a book; “how can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity for higher form she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all,” (351) (Yes, I know, the quote was long. But it’s so perfect and rich and full of meaning that I couldn’t bring myself to cut anything out). So McEwen gave out some happy endings, some tragic ones, and some eternally unknown ones. But he’s not apologizing (or atoning) for anything, especially not for his ambiguity. God doesn’t have to tell the truth.
I believe that Briony is accepting of losing her memory so that she will not be haunted by her guilt over Robbie and Cecilia again. Here we learn about the fictional aspects of the novel that Briony creates for Robbie and Cecilia. We learn that they actually died during the war. Briony cannot leave their lives alone. She destroyed them when she was younger, and now she is distorting them in writing the novel. Even though changing the events does help Briony “atone” a little for what she did, I do not believe it would be write to do that to someone. Briony says at the end that since she is the highest entity in her writing, she cannot atone to herself. But Briony lived her whole life as though she was “God.” So maybe she has no need to atone because she did nothing wrong in her eyes.
I really like how this chapter was included, the story could have ended with the last one in some sort of happyish ending, but I think this one with the last one really makes one of the best endings of books. I hate just normal story endings where everything is all wrapped up, this one really breaks it down and makes the story end really interestingly. It also makes the book seem even more realistic and I had to keep reminding myself that it is generally all fiction just like I had to do in Shalimar. McEwan seemed to effortlessly encapsulate an entirely made up person's personality in this book. The whole thing that Briony is doing with the trying to atone for what she had done didn't seem to work very well for me because the only people that would care were the ones it's about and you find out that they died much before the story had been published. Seems like a useless story to write if it was actually true but the prospect of McEwan making this story that nobody would care about and doing it in such a fantastic way is really amazing.
Briony's vascular dementia is both a curse and blessing. As a novelist it is a curse, because how can you write with no memory? You would start a new story every 6 lines while staying within the same page. However, it does have its positives. With no memory of her past, there is no crime, no heart break, nothing. Just what happens in the present and five minutes after it. Though I feel that without a memory, one would either be amazing and curious about everything, or maybe just afraid. Never knowing where you are and when you find out, only knowing for short bust of time.
I like and dislike this ending at the same time. I hate how it takes a nice calm ending and replaces it with "Well I lied to you about almost everything hehe my bad!" But I do like how McEwan ends the book with The Trials of Arabella, it kind of makes the book go full circle. It allows Briony to imagine the world in which she never did what she did, and where Cecilia and Robbie are curled up in the corner together watching.
I really liked this ending. It was such an unexpected turn of events (well, it would be if I hadn't seen the movie). I liked seeing the world completely through Briony's eyes. Her atonement is very human and touching. She admits to being mistaken and knows she can never be forgiven. This book was a great way to finish off her career. The vascular dementia was heartbreaking. It got me thinking how scary a disease it would be to have, especially for a writer or artist of another sort. Your career and passion and self-expression relies on your capability to portray something, whether it is through text or artwork. Losing everything in your brain means losing what makes your life meaningful.
[url=http://www.casino-online.gd]casinos online[/url], also known as accepted casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of usual ("wodge and mortar") casinos. Online casinos money gamblers to lessen and wager on casino games tailback the Internet. Online casinos superficially happening strong on the huckster odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos aver on higher payback percentages in the services of inauguration gismo games, and some bruit down payout mass audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an aptly programmed unspecific thicket generator, note games like blackjack plead for an established quash edge. The payout suggest after these games are established erstwhile the rules of the game. Uncounted online casinos sublease or absorb their software from companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, Universal Imposture Technology and CryptoLogic Inc.
top [url=http://www.001casino.com/]online casino[/url] hinder the latest [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com/]online casino[/url] unshackled no set aside hand-out at the leading [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]baywatchcasino.com [/url].
22 comments:
Well as I said in the previous blog post. This chapter is depressing. Readers get to know the truth about the book. We find out what happened years after Briony committed her crime. She talks about how she is going to die soon and that the novel itself was a way of atonement for what she did. We see how Lola and Paul ended up after their marriage. And what happened to Leon, Jack and Emily and as well as that twins. We see how their lives ended up as she talks about going to her birthday party. It isn't till the very end that she mentions that Cecilia died in a bombing and that Robbie died at Dunkirk from an injury. She says that the beginning was true that she did commit a crime but that the happily ever after for Cecilia and Robbie never happened. That it was just so that they would at least be happy together in one place even though it is imaginary. Briony states that she wrote this book for atonement for what she did and wrote that ending specifically so that they could have their happily ever after.
Briony ruins everything. She talks about giving Robbie and Cecelia a happy ending, but she doesn't. She doesn't give the characters or the readers a happy ending because for once in her life she decides to tell the truth. Even though I knew what was coming, this chapter was a big bummer. Everything was neatly tied in a bow at the end of the last section and Briony has to unravel that bow.
Briony has tried hard to atone for her mistakes. But she really can't atone through this novel. She created the situations in this novel, she wields the control. No one can forgive her when she is the one creating the reality she lives in. Briony's real atonement comes when she gives Robbie and Cecelia a happy ending, but she doesn't give the character of Briony one. She finally accepts that this wrong will never be righted and that she can't ask for forgiveness. Briony can torture herself all she wants, but that doesn't change the facts. Her atonement comes when she realizes that she will live with it forever.
This final section was extremely sentimental, touching on all aspects of aging. As people grow older, they can’t do what they used to be able to do, and there’s a sense of ending, which leads to fear. When people don’t have so much time left, they want to finish their projects and live life to the fullest. Briony, under the pressure of time, is finally able to finish her novel – an atonement for her crime. At the end of one’s life, things come full circle, which is an unexpected surprise. There’s a sense of continuity and change. Something you did when you were young still has relevance when you’re old – connects one part of your life to another. In the middle of the connection, you can see change, but there are things about your life that are still the same. Briony has grown, but she can see the realization of her talent in writing in Arabella since then. It reassures people that there has been some order in their lives; there are still things to hold onto when other things change. It makes people feel like they haven’t lost everything. Without the age aspect, this is how I feel about Waverly: sad to leave, yet content that I was fortunate enough to meet wonderful people and experience incredible opportunities.
Briony is finally the author she has always dreamed to be.
Here in this final section, Briony’s atonement is achieved through the same agent her crime was caused in the first place: imagination, creativity and writing. However, even though Briony’s novel exposes her own crime, Briony also uses her imagination to create a story in which Cecilia and Robbie actually do survive in the end. Thus, Briony uses her imagination to atone her guilt.
This ending I thought was more appropriate and meaningful than the one in the movie. I especially liked how the book comes full circle at the end, with Briony’s play being performed at her 77th birthday. Nevertheless, I still hate the ending to this book.
Speaking of the ending, the artificial ending reverts Briony back to her thirteen–year–old self. Even at the age of seventy–seven, Briony is still attached to fairytales and order. Briony suffers from her creativity, going as far as referring to herself as ‘God.’ “How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, entity of higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point.” (Pages 350 – 351). The quote spoken by an aging Briony, places Briony herself in a bind because of her ‘absolute power to decide outcomes.’ She asks if she is not ‘also God?’ meaning to the characters and episodes in her book. Well, the truth of the matter is – even though I personally still hate Briony – is that Briony IS God. As an author she has the power to do anything to anyone in any situation. Recognizing this power, Briony concludes that there can be ‘no atonement for God or novelists,’ and only it is the attempt that really matters in the end.
I think that the story should have ended with the last section. I felt that this final section was just unnecessary. If it were not for this part I probably would never have understood that Briony made it all up. I did get a sense of finality from this part; it was interesting to see everyone after they had aged many years. I think that Briony is really naïve for thinking that writing a book where they are happy is enough to make up for causing the death of her sister and childhood friend. Even though I knew the twist of it all being fake I still kind of felt a little cheated. It was like one of those stories where you get really into it…. but wait it’s all actually a dream
Another thing that bugs be about Briony is that she still never revealed her secret until everyone it affected was dead. Before they died she never apologized to Cecilia or Robbie or anyone. It would not be sufficient in itself to apologize but it would be a start instead of just cutting herself off from the family and waiting for everyone to die.
This is the part int he book you really have to have some sympathy for Briony. Shes an old woman who knows shes done a lot of things wrong. She should have told people what shes done but she didn't feel there was an option. What we learn is that in the novel when she goes to see them Robbie was already dead and Cecelia was going to be dead soon. So at that point where Briony was ready to face up to her mistakes it was too late. It's wrong of her to feel bad when its too late but sometimes it happens. She sees that she needs to fix things but she needs to do it now in her story. This is how the book ends, her wishing that they could come to her party and decides that she will have them in the story.
Ahhh the end. I had said before that I had wished the story had ended in the previous section, but alas, the story continues on. This chapter's main purpose, it seems, is to tie up loose ends, and it does so quite well. It gave me information that I didn't necessarily want, for instance with the last section I could imagine that maybe all of the events of the book did happen and perhaps Briony was making a note of it in 1999. But this section forces me to face the fact that Robbie and Cecilia are dead and Paul Marshall and Lola Quincy are still alive and kicking (barely in Paul's case). It's not only that the Marshalls are still around, but that the family name is thriving. Also the fact that they are not dead in the ground is preventing the publication of Briony's book is just eternally frustrating. I am so enraged by Briony's character, what she has done and the result of those actions, but I can respect the fact that in the realm of this novel she is trying to make amends. And knowing as a reader that she will not live to see that, puts my stomach in knots. Ending the book with a performance of "The Trials of Arabella" was interesting. If I were the sort of person to read a bit of the end of this story before reading the whole book, I would have probably thought that my suspicious were confirmed about this whole book being about that play. It was like having the play go on was the one thing from that night, that could be put right.
I think this last section, as Ry said, was unnecessary. You tried to give the book a happy ending, but just revealed that it was a fabrication, just like the rest of the plot... I don't know exactly how I should feel, but it definitely isn't good. She feels that by giving them a good fictional ending, she is atoning for her crimes. But look back at her. She became a novelist, and has been writing stories. She makes a living doing what she did when she ruined Cecilia and Robbie's lives. She created a story so she could create order. She became God. This is frustrating, because in the end, nothing good came out of this.
It says in the end that Lola will probably try to stop the book from coming out because she is implicated in it. Something like, you can only libel the dead. Lola is going to outlast Briony, so there is a chance that the book, and therefore the atonement will never come back. Urg, this is so frustrating and annoying.
We finally reach the end of this drama filled novel. Briony is an old woman returning to see her home for one last time. She has been diagnosed with dementia and is looking back at her first and last novel. The play her grandchildren put on in her honor was really cute! Overall it was a nice way to end this book. Briony let her lovers live and never gained her atonement.
And…the book is finally done. I found Part 4 to be a little dull and hard to get through, as well as extremely depressing. I think Briony was clearly in denial about her condition, but just like with Robbie in Part 2, this brand-new Briony seemed to essentially be a different person, and didn’t have much to do with the younger Briony. It was sort of interesting to see how everyone and everything had changed, and it was kind of disgusting how harmless people like Emily and Jackson were dead, and the equally harmless Leon was (I assume) paralyzed, and yet the Marshalls were totally flourishing and successful. (I also liked how artfully McEwan never mentions Robbie and Cecelia when he is listing everyones’ fates.) I hate how the only part of the book-within-a-book’s ending that was true was the marriage.
I thought the ending with the play was sweet, in a full-circle sort of way. I also thought it was nice to see that even after all the horror and destruction that Briony was exposed to during the war, she still had this fantastic, loving extended family to appreciate at the end of it all. But reading about the big plot twist (again), and her comment that she could never really get atonement because she was basically God, made me think. It does sort of annoy me that she can never truly feel better because of that fact, but I guess at least in admitting it, she has achieved something. It seems to me like her “punishment,” so to speak, was writing out that whole fictionalization of her feeling guilty, and not even allowing the imaginary Cecelia and Robbie to forgive her in the end. She has finally acknowledged that nothing can be done anymore but apologize, and while that must feel so horrible, that horrible feeling is what she has inflicted upon herself so as to pay for the crime. I feel like I’m starting to go in circles here, but does that make sense?
Anyway, I have to say that despite the opinions of everyone else in the class, this book was tragic and thought-provoking, and I loved it.
I feel that this part of the book was made just to make anyone who thought that a happy ending was possible feel stupid. As a reader you find out that Robbie is alive and you’re happy that Cecilia and Robbie actually were able to stick together through the extremely rough moments of their lives. But then Briony lets us know, “I made that all up just to let you know what I think they deserved but never got”. This is ridiculous because in real life if something never happens you can’t just erase the parts you didn’t like and fill them in with fiction. Briony still acts like a little girl even at age 77.
Wow way to go Briony! Just had to ruin everything for everyone! While I knew this section was coming it didn't really help me feel any better when I read it. It almost seems cruel the way she gives the reader such a nice wrapped up ending and then throws it in the readers face. In a way I'm inclined to see it as another example of Briony's self-centered thinking. It wasn't enough to just give a nice ending for Robbie and Cecilia and tie the whole thing off. No, she had to go on and talk about all her problems and how she is the poor poor victim of everything. While it's true Briony isn't the only one to blame for her crime I still can't find myself forgiving her because of her attitude. Briony comes off as this weak character who becomes headstrong when she decides to do things that make her life easier or make her seem more important and special. If she had been a stronger character she would have talked to Cecilia when she had the chance, she would have admitted to her crimes when she made her mistake, and she may have even never committed her crime if she kept her nose out of other people's business.
A very disappointing section I must say. Even though I knew this was coming the ending seemed so unnecessary. Apparently Ian McEwan decides to become M. Night Shyamalan briefly and add a twist. The twist seemed unnecessary and kind of contrived, although it does add layer upon layer of meta-y goodness throughout the book it just seemed to come out of nowhere. What benefit as a reader do I get from knowing that what I read was all fiction? Well, okay, I know it’s already all fiction written by a real author and not a character in a book, but you know what I mean. Although I know that McEwan put a lot of effort into layering the story within a story business, the twist seemed very last minute. Like it was added in right before he sent it to the editor to fill up some pages or something. It’s like one of those twists at the end of movies that aren’t really twists; they’re just like, “Oh, it was a dream the whole time.” That kind of stuff just seems lazy, obviously not in this case but still it seems that way. But it is kind of beautiful that Briony’s form of atonement is to create a world, in the only way she knows how, where Robbie and Cecilia are together and happy for all eternity, forever in love in the world of literature. To tell you the truth, the more I think of it the less of a shitty ending it becomes. However, it is still a very odd decision to end the book like this. But what do I know I’ve never written a book in my life.
I miss the happy ending. I'm a sucker for romance and I was content having Robbie and Cecelia together again. The end of the book kind of fit the overall theme of the novel. It was depressing but Briony finally got her atonement through writing her book. Even if she didn't think so, I thought it was sad how she was getting sicker and sicker with old age.
I enjoyed how Briony got to have a final creative flow when she modified the end of her story and kept the two lovers alive and happy. It reminded me of the beginning of the novel, both in Briony's creative nature, and the happiness of that Robbie and Cecelia share.
I was impressed by McEwen’s using Briony’s mental degradation as an ending point to the book. It’s horribly depressing, the prospect of losing memories, not being able to recognize familiar faces or places. For a writer, especially, the idea of losing language is horrifying. Briony knows that she won’t live to see her manuscript published. The whole idea is terribly disturbing and frightening, but I think it was an appropriate ending to this particular story. I’m not saying that Briony deserved it; I don’t think anyone deserves that. But for the ultimate purpose of the book, this situation perfectly encompasses the moral I think McEwen is trying to get across. Human perception is impermanent, indefinite, and most of all, imperfect. Briony’s losing the capability to perceive underlines the mortality of anyone’s individual point of view. Unless, of course, it’s written out on paper. An author really is the god of the miniature world he or she creates within a book; “how can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity for higher form she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all,” (351) (Yes, I know, the quote was long. But it’s so perfect and rich and full of meaning that I couldn’t bring myself to cut anything out). So McEwen gave out some happy endings, some tragic ones, and some eternally unknown ones. But he’s not apologizing (or atoning) for anything, especially not for his ambiguity. God doesn’t have to tell the truth.
I believe that Briony is accepting of losing her memory so that she will not be haunted by her guilt over Robbie and Cecilia again. Here we learn about the fictional aspects of the novel that Briony creates for Robbie and Cecilia. We learn that they actually died during the war. Briony cannot leave their lives alone. She destroyed them when she was younger, and now she is distorting them in writing the novel. Even though changing the events does help Briony “atone” a little for what she did, I do not believe it would be write to do that to someone. Briony says at the end that since she is the highest entity in her writing, she cannot atone to herself. But Briony lived her whole life as though she was “God.” So maybe she has no need to atone because she did nothing wrong in her eyes.
Briony needs to shut up. Her words get her into trouble.
I really like how this chapter was included, the story could have ended with the last one in some sort of happyish ending, but I think this one with the last one really makes one of the best endings of books. I hate just normal story endings where everything is all wrapped up, this one really breaks it down and makes the story end really interestingly. It also makes the book seem even more realistic and I had to keep reminding myself that it is generally all fiction just like I had to do in Shalimar. McEwan seemed to effortlessly encapsulate an entirely made up person's personality in this book. The whole thing that Briony is doing with the trying to atone for what she had done didn't seem to work very well for me because the only people that would care were the ones it's about and you find out that they died much before the story had been published. Seems like a useless story to write if it was actually true but the prospect of McEwan making this story that nobody would care about and doing it in such a fantastic way is really amazing.
Briony's vascular dementia is both a curse and blessing. As a novelist it is a curse, because how can you write with no memory? You would start a new story every 6 lines while staying within the same page. However, it does have its positives. With no memory of her past, there is no crime, no heart break, nothing. Just what happens in the present and five minutes after it. Though I feel that without a memory, one would either be amazing and curious about everything, or maybe just afraid. Never knowing where you are and when you find out, only knowing for short bust of time.
I like and dislike this ending at the same time. I hate how it takes a nice calm ending and replaces it with "Well I lied to you about almost everything hehe my bad!" But I do like how McEwan ends the book with The Trials of Arabella, it kind of makes the book go full circle. It allows Briony to imagine the world in which she never did what she did, and where Cecilia and Robbie are curled up in the corner together watching.
I still want to smack Lola...
I really liked this ending. It was such an unexpected turn of events (well, it would be if I hadn't seen the movie). I liked seeing the world completely through Briony's eyes. Her atonement is very human and touching. She admits to being mistaken and knows she can never be forgiven. This book was a great way to finish off her career.
The vascular dementia was heartbreaking. It got me thinking how scary a disease it would be to have, especially for a writer or artist of another sort. Your career and passion and self-expression relies on your capability to portray something, whether it is through text or artwork. Losing everything in your brain means losing what makes your life meaningful.
[url=http://www.casino-online.gd]casinos online[/url], also known as accepted casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of usual ("wodge and mortar") casinos. Online casinos money gamblers to lessen and wager on casino games tailback the Internet.
Online casinos superficially happening strong on the huckster odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos aver on higher payback percentages in the services of inauguration gismo games, and some bruit down payout mass audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an aptly programmed unspecific thicket generator, note games like blackjack plead for an established quash edge. The payout suggest after these games are established erstwhile the rules of the game.
Uncounted online casinos sublease or absorb their software from companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, Universal Imposture Technology and CryptoLogic Inc.
top [url=http://www.001casino.com/]online casino[/url] hinder the latest [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com/]online casino[/url] unshackled no set aside hand-out at the leading [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]baywatchcasino.com
[/url].
Post a Comment