Structure

The novel Atonement by Ian McEwan is split into three main parts and a postscript and largely follows a non-linear structure. 

The novel begins with an epigraph from Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park. The quote discusses mistaken assumptions and accusations. This sets the tone for the main events of the novel Atonement, where Briony falsely accuses Robbie of a crime he did not commit. 

The first part of the novel focuses on a few days in 1935 at the Tallis residence. The novel begins with Briony preparing the staging of the play she had written. In this way, the novel starts by showing Briony’s dramatic nature and her love of storytelling, which is one of the key themes of the book. The play The Trials of Arabella is also mentioned at the end of the novel, when an elderly Briony watches Pierrot’s grandchildren perform the play (London, 1999, 74%), which also offers the novel a circular structure.

Several narrative threads and perspectives are interwoven and interconnected, and the narration jum...