The Role Of Lola And Other Characters In McEwan's "Atonement"

Ian McEwan presents Atonement through the use of Briony, who embodies guilt, innocence and loss of identity through her actions, whose consequences effect Cecilia, her sister and Robbie, her sister’s lover as well as a rapist according to Briony. Throughout the novel, the reader is able to connect with Briony and the guilt that she faces simply because she saw him, with her own eyes. It accentuates that because of this simple verdict “I saw him”; a young middle class girl holds a very powerful trust compared to an older working class individual. This highlights the difference between social class and the level of trust people have, concerning the class status. Critic Mathews argues that ‘’Briony was already absorbed in the upper class snobbery and knew her statement would be superior over Robbie working class status’’. It also conveys the loss of identity as she frantically wants to grow up and mature, yet, it backfires on her as she has to grow up and accept the fact that she has ruined two people’s lives; Cecilia and Robbie. 

Miller depicts John Proctor as a 60 year old man who is guilty of committing an immoral sin; adultery which was frowned upon in the colonial Massachusetts era and he was accused wrongly for being a witch. Because of this, he was sent to prison and condemned to be hanged, to protect his honour and his family’s. In the beginning of the play, it was assumed that he had an affair with one of the maids, Abigail Williams, a 12 year old and alludes that Abigail wants to carry on as she exclaims “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John”. Abigail is seen as a matured woman as she has experienced a man’s physical and sexual nature. She also loses her identity in the play as a vulnerable, innocent girl for the reason that she is involved with Proctor. The Crucible was based on a real life story however in the 1996 film version; Director Nicholas Hytner decided to make Proctor a 30 year old man and Abigail, a 17 year old girl to make it more credible to the audience. 

In the start of the novel of Atonement, Briony is introduced to the reader as a writer and has finished her draft of ‘The Trials of Arabella’. This illustrates that Briony is mature for her age and in her eyes, the adult world is a wholly different place which she desires and prolongs for. The quote “Briony’s was the only tidy upstairs room in the house” draws attention to the fact that Briony may not fit into the Tallis’s mansion and is perceived as more advanced and eccentric. McEwan goes on to describe Briony’s bedroom and her regularity, exemplifying the nature of her and her supposed obsessive compulsory disorder (OCD). Critic Mishra argues that ‘’the sense of order dictates her budding moral notions and that we find her adapting to certain standard ideas existing in the society.’’ This could convey her innocence, her identity as a writer and as a young girl wanting to explore the adult realm. 

Congruently, in the opening of The Crucible, Reverend Parris is seen praying to God, indicating the religious theme which permeates throughout the play. Religion, in the 17th century was a significant factor in proving the innocence of people through the Salem Witch Trials, which terrified many people. If there was evidence over the individual that proved that they were a witch, they were executed. On May 1693, 19 people were hung and over 200 people were accused including nurses, mothers and other children. Miller opens the play with Reverend Parris crying, calling out for his “Dear child, Will you wake, will you open up your eyes! Betty, little one...” which shows that his child has been affected by an alleged ‘witch’ and will not wake up. ‘Witch’ is a very powerful word to use as the connotations behind ‘witch’ meant that you were evil and if you had certain characteristics such as having moles on your face or having cats as pets, these were the signs for being labelled as a witch. In the 17th century, many women were considered as witches because men were seemingly scared that women would rise in power and to prevent this, women were falsely accused as witches. 

Conversely, in Atonement, Lola, a 15 year old and Briony’s cousin, is rendered as innocent, having Paul Marshall intrusion to expose her vulnerability. McEwan places most of Lola’s acts in the nursery, highlighting the irony of “the adult she considered herself at heart to be”. This makes it clear to the reader that she may not be ready for the adult world, emphasising her innocence. McEwan makes Paul Marshall seemingly pure with his ‘white suit’, and portrays him as a trustworthy person. However, this trust is broken when he sees that “the girl was almost a young women” foreshadowing Marshall’s sexual assault of Lola. This indicates the loss of innocence and loss of childhood identity for Lola. 

Additionally, it could be argued that Lola is not that innocent as she seems and her innocence could be a façade, emphasising the ability to appear vulnerable, which is exacerbated when she chooses to not blame her attacker, merely telling Briony “Yes”. Likewise, McEwan hints Briony’s naivety as she now believes she has entered the realm of adult emotions and she is the protector of her older sister and older cousin from Robbie as she believed she had “interrupted brutal behaviour, and by incurring the hatred of an adult whom everyone had trusted, she had become participant in the drama of life beyond the nursery.' Nevertheless, the reader already knows that Cecilia and Lola are not at risk of Robbie and are able to look after themselves. It shows the loss of identity of Briony as she is now considered to be a woman in her own eyes and is guilty because she was unknown of the adult world as well as blaming Robbie for a crime that he did not commit. 

In The Crucible, guilt is represented by John Proctor when he commits adultery with a young girl Abigail. Guilt is seen as an aftermath of a sin against God, which was for cheating on his wife Elizabeth. This theme is very common in the play because most of the characters especially the minor characters express guilt through accusing other individuals of witchcraft. An example is when the girls accused many for witchcraft, Tituba accuses “Goody Good, Aye, sir, and Goody Osburn”, and Anne Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse. Proctor believes that he is guilty and irreparably damaged in the eyes of God because ‘’God help me, I lusted and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whores vengeance.’’ Throughout the play, Proctor is guilty for succumbing to Abigail and this guilt is finally obliterated at the end “I have given you my soul, leave me my name”, revealing that reputation was important in the 17th century. It expresses the status of reputation and how guilt affects the individual and the people around them. Critic Popkin says ‘’His good name, was, in fact, being threatened by his fear of death and by his knowledge of his own adultery, but it was shaken only in the most superficial way by the charge of witchcraft.’’ This could be interpreted that the protagonist is not always good and makes mistakes but that in the ending, Proctor’s reputation is still intact. 

Similarly, loss of innocence and identity is shown in The Crucible through the use of Abigail. She can be seen as a foil to Elizabeth because she represents all the Puritan social restrictions and expresses her sexual desires with John Proctor. In Act three, it is shown that she is unafraid of everyone because of the power she holds with convincing everyone, “what look do you give me? (Danforth cannot speak)” showing that even Danforth backs down when questioning her. It shows that the power of accusation is very powerful, similar to Atonement’s character Briony when she accuses Robbie of raping Lola.

Moreover, in act 3 of Atonement, guilt is unbearable for Briony. This is shown when Robbie and Nettle are in the French countryside, running from bombs. Robbie and Nettle take shelter in a bombed house whose cellar was open to the sky and had the appearance of a gigantic cave”, similarly when Joseph laid Jesus in a cave tomb. McEwan and Briony have created Robbie into a Christ-martyr through the description of the French countryside, which is emblematic of Robbie’s innocence. When Briony ‘visited’ Cecilia and Robbie, Robbie says “what’s made you so certain now?” which Briony replies with “growing up”, highlighting the fact she was erroneous. Critic Matthews claimed that ‘’Briony is symbolic of Oedipus, as she is both guilty and innocent because she acted without ‘full’ knowledge’’. This insinuates that accusation is very powerful because it can destroy a person’s reputation, similar to The Crucible where reputation, in the 17th century was seen as part of a person’s identity. Towards the end of the novel, we realise as readers, that the novel was written by Briony to repent and ’atone’ her guilt of separating the two lovers; Cecilia and Robbie. Atonement ends with Briony “But now I must sleep”, alluding to her finally atoning for her sins and getting rid of her guilt, through her use of writing. 

Finally, identity is a major concept of The Crucible. During the course of the play, identities are being interrogated, fought for, developed and transformed all throughout. The power held by the “afflicted girls” gave them the ability to say anyone is a witch, and directly puts their identity under speculation. As shown in the end of Act II, the girls cry out names of women that they had “seen with the devil.” Immediately the names of Sarah Good, Sara Osborne, etc., are called out as being affiliated with the devil and these women’s identities are destroyed. Abigail Williams’s identity is also changed for the duration of the play. She starts as Reverend Paris’ niece, a good girl as known to him, but in the town, there is a “blush” surrounding her name. It is said in town that she and John Proctor had “known” each other while Abigail was working in his home. This confirms that identity is the foremost important theme in The Crucible and was very credible in the 17th century during the reign of William III. 

Identity was seen as very important during the 1950’s, to which the Salem Witch Trials were conducted at the time under the control of Joseph McCarthy and many individuals, especially women were accused of being communist and being a witch, simply because of their views being different to mainstream society. An example is accepting homosexuality and changing traditional roles of women, which were different from wider society. The link between Puritan New England and McCarthyism America is that both countries want social order and everyone being dependent on the state. The Crucible ends with Elizabeth “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it away from him!” suggesting that Proctor is at peace now, with his reputation intact and his identity has not been lost or ruined through his false confession. 

Ultimately, Atonement and The Crucible are equally both tormented with guilt, loss of identity and loss of innocence through the use of Briony and Robbie in Atonement and John Proctor and Abigail Williams in The Crucible. In some parts of Atonement, McEwan portrays Briony as a naïve girl who desperately wants to become an adult and when she becomes an adult, she finally understands the hurt and damage behind her accusation. In The Crucible, Miller paints Abigail as a girl who will reach the unreachable bounds to get what she wants and does not care who it ruins in the process. Both novel and play are significant in proving that Briony and Proctor have committed sins but are willing to repent for their sins regardless of anything. The difference between Atonement and The Crucible is that Atonement was written in 2001 whereas The Crucible was written in 1952/3, displaying that these texts were written in different periods of time with different events influencing them. Another difference is Atonement is linked with post-modernism and The Crucible is linked with a political society focused on anti-communism.