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An example of free indirect style in Atonement by Ian McEwan can be found in chapter six as the author describes the acts and thoughts of Emily Tallis. The author takes on Emily’s thoughts and expressing that she considered it important not to provoke the pain in his head lest she misses dining with Leon and the family. The free indirect style has the effect of making the reader feel the thought patterns of the character and to become closer. Additionally, the reader can be emersed in the thought process to acknowledge and understand the thinking progression and the reasoning and actions emanating from the thought development. Lastly, the free indirect styles connect to the events taking place in the story. For example, the reader understands that Emily is keen to dine with Leon and the family and that she would not want to do anything that jeopardizes that. Additionally, she considered abandoning all stresses so she can have clear thoughts to make the most of the dinning.
Interiority can also be observed from the above example because the statement describes the internal thoughts of the character. However, another example in Chapter 6 is the rhetorical question “or were the rafters and posts drying out and contracting against the masonry?” (McEwan, 2002, p. 48). The rhetorical question is not from the perspective of the author but one which Emily asks herself. Therefore, it illustrates interiority, which allows the reader to learn the internal thoughts and perspectives of the character. The effect of this interiority in the story is that it helps show how the characters perceive and interpret their surroundings. A more intimate view of Emily’s mind is achieved and the readers can tell that she has some knowledge in masonry and can interpret incidences related to buildings. The interiority is related to some of the events in the story because the rhetorical question has opened a stream of thoughts in Emily as she examines what was going on around her. For instance, she starts to feel as everything around her was shrinking, at which point she introduced such events as the diminishing of Leon’s prospects.
Another technique in Atonement is fragmentation, which is visible across the entire book, especially during transitions between chapters. For example, different tales focusing on different characters are told in different chapters, which leaves the reader to patch the events together to make sense of them. The lack of a linear world representation in the book illustrates alienation and disconnection of modern experience. This is because all characters may be living in the same era but facing different circumstances, which could also be interpreted as an element of chaos. The effect of fragmentation in the story is that it allows readers to see how different life experiences affect different individuals who are part of the same story. Additionally, the relation to the events in the story can be manifested by the fact different sequences of actions and events interlink at some point in the story. This way, the many events are patched up to become part of a bigger picture being depicted in the story. Lastly, the fragmentation has allowed the author to offer adequate details of each event from the perspectives of the characters involved.
Reference
McEwan, I. (2002). Atonement. Vintage.
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