Atonement:
Trauma
&
Postmodernism
Cathy
Chris
Daphne
Edison
Janine
Joby
Joe
Tony
Content
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Introduction
Trauma, History vs. Reality
Ideology
Post-Modern Interpretation
Cinematography
Conclusion
Works Cited
Introduction
Janine
What is “trauma”?
• “…psychic trauma occurs when a sudden,
unexpected, overwhelming intense emotional
blow or a series of blow assaults the person
from outside. Traumatic events are external,
but they quickly become incorporated into the
mind.” (261)
trauma
• Physical trauma:
 any body wound or shock produced by
sudden injury or severe impact
e.g. accident
• Psychological trauma:
 a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as
a result of a traumatic event
e.g. stress disorder
What is “postmodernism”?
• “It [postmodernism] was first used among
literary critics as a definition for experimental
fictional writing which came after modernism
[that] signals unsteadily not a consensus of
opinion with a discernible object of study, but,
instead, a range of debates that are far from in
agreement with one another.” (177)
postmodernism
• Cultural projects or a set of perspectives
e.g. personal responses
• A reaction to modernism
 Associated with:
- difference
- separation
- textuality
- skepticism
Trauma,
History vs. Reality
Tony, Cathy, Chris
Trauma
Tony
Traumatic
Incidents
• Briony’s false accusation of Robbie raping her
cousin, Lola.
– Both Cecilia and Robbie are helpless because of
social class differences.
• The War
Briony Tallis
• Not married
• Unchanging hairstyle
• Need for confession/atonement (writing the book)
• The confrontation scene between that she wrote in her
book shows her wish to receive some kind of punishment
• Need for confession also echoed
in the scene with the dying solider.
(example of both the false
accusation and WWII)
Cecilia Tallis
• Being alone after Briony’s
false accusation
– Loss of her love
– Cutting off all contact with
her family
• Not being protected
– From higher level of living to
lower apartment
– Died in the underground
Robbie Turner
• Physical
– Kept in jail with freedom
– Physical exhaustion during
the war
• Psychological
– Remain lower social class
identity
(servant prisoner solider)
History
vs.
Reality
Cathy & Chris
History vs. Reality
The fractured pieces of history in movie
The whole WWII in reality
The Blitz in
Atonement
• Cecilia killed at the bombing of the Balham
tube station . (1:50:42-1:51:50)
• A well-known disastrous incident of The Blitz.
• Date: 1940/10/15
• Result: the bombing destroyed the water system
to breakdown and drowned the Balham tube
station
The Blitz in
reality
The Blitz
the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi
Germany between 1940/9/7 and 1941/5/10, in
WWII
Began
the bombing of London for 57 consecutive
night
Heaviest
attack
by 400 bombers and lasting six hours - hit
London
Result
over 43,000 civilians were killed by bombing
The Balham tube
station in reality
Balham tube
station
one of many deep tube stations designated for
use as a civilian air raid shelter
Time
At 20:02 on 14 October 1940
Cause
a 1400 kg bomb fell on the road above the
northern end of the platform tunnels
What happened
northbound platform tunnel  southbound
platform tunnel  within 100 yards of
Clapham South
Result
sixty-four civilians were killed
Dunkirk Evacuation
in Atonement
• Robbie arrived at the
beach (1:05:10-25)
• Scene of brutality
– School girls
– Horses
(1:06:15-1:06:25)
Dunkirk Evacuation
in Atonement
• Scene of surreal quality
– The singing in the bar at Dunkirk appear to be
dream-like (1:10:30-)
– His meeting with his mother (1:12:20-1:13:53)
• Robbie died in the last day of evacuation
1 June 1940
Dunkirk Evacuation in
Reality
• Mission: Evacuation of Allied soldiers
• Time: Between 26 May and 4 June 1940 (six times)
• Miracle of Deliverance
• Cause: German break through to the channel
Ports getting the upper hand
• Result: General Gort ordered to retreat to the
near-by port of Dunkirk  save the British Army
to fight another day
Ideology
Daphne
Ideology
• Social ideology: love as an ideal
– Between Cecilia and Robbie
Ideology
• Form (narrative frame): text as truth
Ideology
• Authorial ideology: Power of forgiveness vs.
Power of art
– “The text, rather, is a certain production of
ideology, for which the analogy of dramatic
production….it ‘produces’ the text, transforming it
into a unique and irreducible entity” (128)
Postmodern
interpretation
Edison
Simply put……
The concept of Postmodernism applied in the
movie analysis is to reveal the things against a
viewer’s expectation of traditional concept/
ideology that the movie would involve:
There is no absolute truth / interpretation
Anti-heroine
angel-like face,
energetic, clever,
creative
sentimental,
spoiled, jealous,
insecure
Middle-aged face,
Always in uniform
or cloak
quiet, emotionless,
gloomy,
preoccupied
Wrinkled face,
white hair,
weak
sorrowful, regretful,
lonely
Anti-heroine
1. Her hair style remains the same & the mole on her face never ceases
2. She never grows up, but she has only getting old
Miscarriage of
Justice
It’s not worthy:
1. Robbie does not deserve the punishment.
2. The letter is only a mistake: only a joke.
None should be
punished
It’s just abecause
joke!
he tells a joke!!!
It’s injustice:
1. Briony’s lie makes Robbie and Ceci suffer.
2. The slander is never clarified.
3. Marriage btw the real villain (Marshal) &
Laura
4. The villain makes a lot of money during
the war
Powerless to recover:
1. Evidence can not be raised.
2. The power of war is overwhelming.
Anti-romance
The romance turns out to be a irreversible tragedy.
Briony’s confession as
Deconstruction
If Briony had not confessed, the movie would have nothing to do
with postmodernism.
Thus, if Briony hadn’t confessed, there would only be one
interpretation of the text. In other words, viewers would just accept
the happy ending without knowing the truth: death of Robbie and
Cecilia / marriage of Marshal and Laura.
The interpretation of “Atonement” should’ve been limited.
Interpretation of
“Atonement”
Atonement achieved:
The power of art (novel)
Atonement unachieved:
Trauma is ever-lasting
Frame Narrative
• Author as God
– Briony: “how can a novelist achieve atonement
when, with her absolute power of deciding
outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no
entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be
reconciled with, or that can forgive her. No
atonement for God, or novelists . . .”
cinematography
Joby, Joe
Recall of Briony –
School Girl Scene
• Robbie showing his sympathy to dead girls
 Does he also show his forgiveness to Briony?
* Briony’s perspective as an author/writer.
“Hands”
• Touching water
• Holding the debris of vase
• Holding hands together at the dinner table
• Cecilia’s longing for Robbie
– Touching Robbie’s hand at the restaurant
– Robbie’s retreat
•Uncertainty about future
Robbie’s typing/
Mirror Scene
• Light Effect – Soft, dreamy
– A way of showing Cecilia as Robbie’s longing for her
love.
– Vague, blurry image of Cecilia  unreachable lover
– Unspeakable love for Cecilia through typewriter.
Dunkirk
Evacuation
• A long take scene of war
–
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied
soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940, when
British, French, Canadian, and Belgian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of
Dunkirk in the Second World War.
– Style of Joe Wright [ Several long takes in the film]
– Shows in detail and in whole of the disastrous scene
of war
– Robbie’s vain search for water
•Foreshadowing Robbie’s loss of life/ vain search for
Cecilia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hXMNhML0Ug
Theatre Scene
• Robbie’s search for water
•Hand held camera = unsteady shooting
- reflects Robbie’s physical and mental condition
- hints that Robbie is barely hanging on
• Tilted camera – psychological condition of the
character
• Overwhelmed and overweighed by thoughts of
Cecilia => loses his sanity and dies
Rewinding Scene
• The night Robbie dies:
scene rewinds back to broken vase piece
falling into the water.
- Robbie and Cecilia could resume their story
• If time could rewind to mend from the beginning.
• When Robbie dies, they resume.
• *Briony created rewinding scene?
conclusion
Janine
Works cited
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http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/dunkirk.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation
http://www.squidoo.com/lancastria
http://schoolshistory.org.uk/dunkirk.htm
http://www.dover-kent.co.uk/history/ww2b_dunkirk.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hXMNhML0Ug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_trauma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_trauma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernity