Exploring "Atonement" Part 4

Over the next week or so I'm posting edited extracts from an extended analysis I did a few years ago of Christopher Hampton's script ATONEMENT. 

Here is part four... (spoilers, naturally, abound)

Knowledge and Vision

The journey from false belief to knowledge is a vital aspect of Briony's character arc. The key moment which leads to the betrayal of Robbie and Cecilia is her misinterpretation of the fountain scene, where the assumed significance of those events is wildly at odds with reality. Over the course of the script, however, she gains knowledge of what really occurred:¹

OLDER BRIONY

I got first-hand accounts of all the events I didn’t personally witness, conditions in prison, the evacuation of Dunkirk, everything.

If we consider the structure of Atonement, this is a highly suitable theme.

Although it is hinted at, the audience is unlikely to be aware (unless they have read the novel!) of Briony's authorship of the narrative until it is revealed to them. They go through the majority of the script in an analogous position to Briony at the window, viewing events through a prism of certain assumptions.

One of the successes of the unusual structure of the script is that the audience are forced by the ending to confront their own ignorance – they can no longer position themselves at a comfortable and appalled distance from Briony's actions. Instead they are made complicit in the same error.

 References

1. Hampton, Atonement, p. 89