In a very meta way, Atonement repeatedly emphasizes and raises questions about the meaning and role of the writer in literature. By ultimately revealing that Briony wrote the story, readers are left questioning almost everything they've read before. The Briony/McEwan comparisons between Robbie and Briony simultaneously paint Briony as a manipulative character influenced by class differences and a character who was truly trying to atone. While there is consistently an underlying importance to the role of the writer, the underlying issue is class differences. This overarching theme is largely seen through Robbie and Briony's parallel experiences and the symbols shared between the two of them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Robbie Turner is a character who is never given freedom. He is always repressed in many ways: he has to serve a family during his youth, he is strangled by his love for Cecilia, he is imprisoned because of his love for Cecilia and released on the basis that he potentially - and later, literally: gives the life for his country. This damnation is entirely caused by the grave Briony digs for him. Eventually, during his time as a soldier, a piece of the war sticks inside him in the form of a shrapnel. Later, during Briony's section, he removes pieces of shrapnel from many soldiers, who are often in worse condition than Robbie. This is symbolic of Briony's attempt to redeem herself, especially since she briefly mentions how she hoped Robbie would be one of the soldiers she would take care of. Even though she indirectly put Robbie in the line of fire by saving the men in front of her, she is still indirectly trying to save Robbie. He's removing pieces of shrapnel from every body he wishes were Robbie's, knowing that these are pieces of war that he essentially stuck in his body, thus trying to atone for his sins. While this may speak to the theme of the role of the writer, it ultimately speaks to the role of class differences in England, especially between Briony and Robbie. Briony's eternal inability to see the class differences of the past is something that makes her character irredeemable. In this case, putting Robbie in a war zone and at the same time saving the men from the consequences of war is symbolic of the omnipresent control that the upper class has over the lives of the lower class. This is also exemplified by the role of Paul Marshall, who uses Robbie as a pawn to escape his own consequences and guilt. Because Paul and Briony are upper class, it is infinitely easier for them to manipulate the role that people like Robbie will take on. Robbie never had a say in whether or not he would be sent to prison or war (the lack of a trial made that abundantly clear). Instead, it was Paul and Briony who decided his fate for him. The fact that it is Briony who saves people like him and Paul who nurtures people like him reinforces the idea that the lives of soldiers and other lowly people are completely run by the elite. They have choices: feed themselves, starve; Save, kill; Blame, listen. The value of a life is no longer an abstract, inspiring thing, but a unit that is assigned a dollar sign or a prison sentence. As much as he tried to save people like Robbie, it was people like Briony who put him there in the first place. Whether or not Briony learned anything significant or developed substantially over the course of the novel, caring for French changed herabove all. vision of war. His death is significant and seemingly symbolic for Robbie as well. By this point, Robbie was already dead. However, throughout the war – and probably as soon as Briony condemned him – Robbie was forever branded as a man who would not be able to be fully helped. Briony also knew this in the made-up story she wrote “for him and Cee.” Clearing up his lies would not do justice to a man married to his victim. Robbie would never receive adequate compensation. Likewise, when she approaches the Frenchman, she is unable to help him and even “cannot help but feel offended” because it would be a waste of her services elsewhere (287). While it would be easy for Briony to leave his side, find other patients who could be saved, and create a better world on her own, she is ordered to stay by the side of a man who will soon die. Spending time with him did nothing to tangibly create her legacy or perfect idealizations of herself. It was – in any case – a waste of time that could have been better spent saving soldiers who had a chance, as immoral as that was. Who spends her last moments with him; however, they reflect the harsh reality of her life and interactions in relation to Robbie. For all intents and purposes, Robbie can't be helped. She still torments herself at the thought of him and what he did. He sits and listens to the Frenchman who may not have deserved his time when he needed it most. If she had sat and listened to Robbie (who she thought didn't deserve her time) when he needed her most, maybe she wouldn't have damned him. He creates a peaceful ending to the Frenchman's life, and while he tries to do that by writing their story, he could never truly reverse time and do it with Robbie. The parallel experiences that Briony and Robbie experience are intended to further mimic the larger motif of class differences. The two characters are so universally different, yet we see them both complete their journeys in similar ways with similar symbols. Reiterating the importance and role of the author, pairing Briony and Robbie as they face similar struggles creates a level of understanding between the two of them. As we learn about Cecilia, Robbie and Briony are the only two minds we can fully enter. In this way the two become a couple and a space is created to compare and contrast the two characters and their experiences. As they both suffer from thirst and blisters, we see Robbie grapple with the idea of ​​how much destruction and suffering humans can inflict on each other. It addresses the harshness and ease with which war is faced. Briony also gets a taste of this through her experiences as a nurse. Both come to the conclusion that no one can remain immune to war. They are also compared for their lasting pain. Robbie constantly but silently comments on the pain caused by the bullet wound. Meanwhile, when the group of wounded soldiers arrive at Briony's hospital, she describes the pain she felt carrying one of the stretchers. Although the two instances are significantly shorter in the time they occupy – for both the characters and the readers – this contrasts with the resistance of the two characters. While Briony almost immediately feels that "her left wrist couldn't hold...her fingers were loosening...[and her] fingers went loose" (274-275). Although he portrays himself as making a great effort to get the soldier to safety, it is nevertheless clear that in “the moment the war touched his life, in the first moment of pressure, he failed” (275). Robbie, on the other hand, can't stand defeat. Throughout his conflict, he knows that “you walked.