A Study Of "Misreading" In Atonement From Narrative Ethics

Ian McEwan(1948-)is one of the most prestigious British writers in contemporary English literature since the 1970 s.His works,often concerned with some dark topics such as violence,murder,good and evil,is famous for his detached yet exquisite depiction,as well as his sophisticated manipulation of various writing skills.As one of the classics of McEwan,Atonement is also such a novel.At the core the narrative of Atonement lies the author's implicit anxiety about misreading.However,so far little research has concentrated on the misreading in this novel.The innovation point of this thesis is the exploration into the topic of misreading in Atonement in the relationship between ethics and narrative on the theoretical basis of narrative ethics.The Introductory section firstly includes a brief introduction to McEwan and his masterpiece Atonement;secondly,it provides a literature review of the previous studies on Atonement,both at home and abroad,thirdly,it outlines the main theory used in this thesis,narrative ethics,to facilitate the following discussion;finally it offers a summary of the organization and significance of this thesis to show the readers its structure.Chapter Two studies the misreading in the novel.The misreading of the female protagonist Briony separates the lovers Robbie and Cecilia,causing a great tragedy.While reading,some readers also misread Atonement and make a series of wrong judgments,even causing the death of the lovers in the text.Chapter Three takes the story ethics in narrative ethics as the theoretical basis and discusses the hidden ethical causes of Briony's misreading.After analysis,the alienation of the heroine's family relationship and the deep-rooted class prejudice in British society have indirectly deepened Briony's misreading of Robbie.Chapter Four aims to explore how McEwan skillfully employs narrative techniques to prompt readers to achieve critical reading while reading this novel.The ethics of narrating in narrative ethics and related narrative theories serve as the theoretical cornerstone of this chapter to discuss the role of multiple narrative points of view,intertextuality,and unreliable narrative in leading readers to make critical reading of this novel.The Conclusion of this thesis gives a summary of the above research contents and then points out the significance of the research in this article.Contemporary novels often make the reading process more obscure due to their distinctive modernism.Furthermore,readers play an important part in constructing the content of a novel.Therefore,In Atonement,McEwan expresses his anxiety of misreading,thus alerting the novelists that they should lead their readers to treat a novel critically in order to avoid misreading.This is also the ethical responsibility of the readers.