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Self-Forgiveness and the Moral Perspective of Humility: Ian McEwan's Atonement
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 43, Number 1, April 2019
- pp. 121-138
- 10.1353/phl.2019.0007
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
Reflection on Briony Tallis in Ian McEwan's Atonement can help us understand two key aspects of self-forgiveness. First, she illustrates an unorthodox conception of humility that aids the process of responsible self-forgiveness. Second, she fleshes out a self-forgiveness that includes continued self-reproach. While Briony illustrates elements of the self-absorption about which critics of continued self-reproach (such as Margaret Holmgren) are rightly concerned, she also shows a way of getting beyond this, such that the delicate balance between self-forgiveness and self-condemnation is upheld. Atonement also shows the significance for the task of self-forgiveness of a particular kind of narrative continuity.