Essay Plan - The Theme of Social Class in Atonement.

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Theme of Social Class in Atonement.

Introduction Points :

  • Atonement set in 1935 England where society was highly influenced by the social class system.
  • From the beginning, the narrative forces the reader to realize that this is note the tale of just one family in Southern England but a cross section of British society at that particular time frame before the war changed everything.
  • Social class plays a key role in Atonement  establishes the background and foundations for the tragedy
  • A series of misunderstandings and misinterpretations set in train the events that culminate in Robbie Turner being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
  • Prejudice & assumptions based on class stereotypes contribute to this process at several points. Most importantly, though, his conviction in the flimsiest of evidence reveals how pervasive attitudes to class were in England in the 1930s.

Body Points :

  • Robbie and Cecilia were the same age, grew up together “He had known her since they were children.” and  shared the same love for Literature  they both have degrees in Literature  went to Cambridge together.
  • Even though they share some common interests, they were separated by a much more fundamental divide  Cecilia was the daughter of a wealthy upper-middle-class senior civil servant and Robbie was the son of the Tallises’ cleaner.
  • Even though they had grown up together and Robbie “had spent his childhood moving freely between the bungalow and the main house” the social gulf was unbridgeable.
  • At that time at Cambridge, they have moved in very different circles, she seemed to be avoiding him. “That’s our cleaning lady’s son she might have been whispering to her friends as she walked on
  • Robbie was the recipient to Jack Tallis’s charitable patronage. It was Jack’s money that enabled him to go to Cambridge. This has given Robbie some social mobility. If he had lived to become a doctor, he would have formed part of the middle class.
  • Emily Tallis resented this. She has a conservative point of view and believes that social mobility should not be encouraged since this would be ‘upsetting the natural order of things” and viewing Jack paying for Robbie as “a hobby of Jack’s”. She deemed this as “unfair on Leon and the girls
  • Emily even disapproves of her daughter going to Cambridge since that it might interfere with her finding a suitable husband.
  • Nothing good will come of this.” “My mother never forgave you your first
  • All of these factors prevent the emergences of a natural relationship between these two who have known each other for so long.
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Body {2} points :

  • The early misunderstanding between them is due to the difference in social class.
  • Robbie removing his shoes and socks is explicitly misinterpreted by Cecilia as an insult and an attempt to distance her.
  • Similarly Robbie misinterprets Cecilia’s undressing at the pond as an attempt to humiliate him.
  • These incidents convey the complexity of emotions in play that day. “He saw it clearly now. The idea was to humiliate him. There it stood, the undeniable fact.” He thought as her “Treating him though he were an infant.
  • Their unequal social class positions cause ...

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