Social Class Issues In Danny Hardman's Atonement

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Recommended: Social construct of class identity

Social Class is a main factor which influences Briony 's identity through the beginning of the novel and plays a role in her accusation against Robbie. The setting of this novel is located in 1935 in England and this was a time period where social class issues played a large role amongst individuals of that era. Social class issues were present as Robbie was of lower class than Briony and had received her father 's help in order to complete his studies. The social class issues are also present when Danny Hardman is immediately accused of raping Lola because of his lower class. Also, Paul Marshal escapes from his crimes because of his higher class and position. Briony could be influenced by these issues as she grows up exposed to this influence The entire novel is surrounding a young girl who makes a mistake and spends the rest of her life atoning for this mistake. Briony falsely accuses Robbie of raping Lola and devotes the rest of her life in trying to fix this mistake. This eventually shapes her identity into the person she is at the end of the novel. Guilt is a universal concept in this novel as even Lola marries Paul Marshal in order to escape her guilt of allowing Robbie to be falsely accused. McEwan seems to be arguing that no matter how much a person tries to atone for their mistakes, it is impossible to change the past however, one can move forward in life. This is shown as Briony writes a novel telling individuals around the world about her mistake and hopefully insuring that it will not occur Did he believe he could conceal his crime behind an apparent kindness, behind this show of being the good shepherd? This was surely a cynical attempt to win forgiveness for what could never be forgiven. (Ch 14 Pg 171)" . This highlights Briony 's thoughts of how Robbie could never be forgiven for the crime she thinks he has committed. The next time Briony thinks about guilt is when she sees Cecilia 's forgiveness of Robbie before he is taken away. She witnesses her sisters act and before that day, forgiveness had "never meant a thing before" (Ch 14, Pg 173). This is Briony 's first interaction with the concept of guilt and from then it will affect her entire

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