Unlike other blog posts I have written, this one has less to do with the novel we read and more about the lasting thoughts I was left with after reading and analyzing Atonement. Throughout the novel, we see Briony’s journey of atoning for the “crime” she committed. Similarly, we see the journey of Cecilia and Robbie’s love. These two journeys are intertwined, leading to this post’s point. Can love be atoned? I believe there are two approaches to this question in relevance to Atonement. The first is Cecilia and Briony’s sisterly love, and the second is love in an emotional and physical sense. Briony wants to atone for the misunderstanding of Lola’s rape to forgive herself, but also she wants forgiveness from her sister. Cecilia has completely avoided Briony after she accused Robbie of raping Lola. Briony wants the attention and the forgiveness from her sister. Briony even goes so far as dropping out of Cambridge and working as a nurse to somehow gain Cecilia’s attention. This part of the novel connects to atoning for love through actions. Does Cecilia ever forgive Briony? The readers are left unanswered. However, this idea can lead the readers to focus on looking within themselves and their relationships. The definition of to atone is to make a reparation for a wrong or injury. The definition of to love is to feel deep affection for something, someone, etc. What do you do when you have to atone in love? I believe that love is not easily defined. Love has a lot of blurred lines. You can love someone who does not love you. You can love someone platonically. You can love something and let go of it. You can love Dunkin every morning. But love can lead to hurt, which I believe McEwean and other post-modern novelists highlight within their novels. Think about The Great Gatsby, essentially a love story between two star-crossed lovers, and one dies—the End. What leads Gatsby to die is not his personal issues (which there were a lot) but it was his love for Daisy. That green light was Gatsby’s atonement to Daisy. His “I am out here, waiting for you”. However, they are not destined to be together so no atoning can rewrite the course of fate. I do not think love can be atoned. I believe that what is meant to happen will happen. Your life is already mapped out for you. There is no “rewriting fate” or “changing my path”. Your path is set for you. This philosophy is set in the Christian religion and is also a philosophical belief called determinism. Looking at this in correlation with atoning for love, I believe that no matter how much you can atone for something, the person’s forgiveness is already determined. Love and atonement both have a blurry area- making it hard to justify being in love and having to atone. Love cannot be atoned for unless it is already determined. Forgiveness can be a hard thing, which is highlighted throughout the entirety of Atonement. You can forgive someone, but only if you feel it is possible to forgive them. You can say you forgive them, but if you are not at the point where you feel like you can. Then, there is always going to be a part of you that is always thinking about the thing that deserves forgiveness. Briony could not forgive herself, which is why the readers never see a closing for Atonement. We do not see a final ending. The story is now stuck in an endless loop of reading and rereading the novel. Forgiveness, atonement, and love are all connected, but it is up to us to determine our feelings about these feelings (haha!).