Prolepsis in Atonement (extract 3 from page 90 --- on handout)

PROLEPSIS IN ATONEMENT (EXTRACT ANALYSIS)

“To what extent is prolepsis used on page 90 and to what effect?”

“In years to come he would often think back to this time, when he walked along the footpath that made a shortcut through a corner of the oak woods and joined the main drive where it curved towards the lake and the house.” – PAGE 90.

This is the scene before he gave the letter to Briony, and the letter giving should have been a small event, but it wasn’t depicted to be so due to the way the author has phrased the aforementioned sentence. The letter giving becomes very significant and the extract emphasizes the event and heightens its importance in order to impact how we feel about the oncoming outcome of the events, we begin to understand the true magnitude of devastation and havoc that will be caused because the author clearly states that the next few pages will contain an event that will be so major that it will be prevalent later on in the novel or in the life of the character, “In years to come”. Through prolepsis the author uses minor events and heightens its importance in order to monitor a particular character carefully, focus on the larger picture and perceive the next few pages differently in order to have a greater impact on the advent of important events in the novel. And this way, McEwan, with his specific phrasing, effectively allows the reader to not only focus on shock or the unfolding of events (as passive readers) but to focus on the moral issue and the idea conveyed and HOW the unfolding of events took place (as active readers) and hence, this has an engaging effect.