July 17, 2011
Introduction by Jane Austin
"Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English: that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you. Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated without being known in a country like this, where social and literary intercourse is on such a footing, where every man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies, and where roads and newspapers lay everything open? Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?"
They had reached the end of the gallery; and with tears of shame, she ran off to her own room.
This quote is actually from Northranger Abbey by Jane Austin. It was chosen to be the introduction of Atonement. This quote is valuable because it foreshadows the theme of the novel- Atonement. The passage is nothing but a long question. The person speaking is accusing the character of accusing an innocent person of a crime. He is asking the perpetrator who is she to judge someone and asks her to use common sense, decency, and her conscience to make good decisions. "Tears of shame" show the guilt Miss Moreland shed for the wrong decisions she has made. Like Miss Moreland, Briony yearns for atonement throughout the novel.
Introduction by Jane Austin
"Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English: that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you. Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated without being known in a country like this, where social and literary intercourse is on such a footing, where every man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies, and where roads and newspapers lay everything open? Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?"
They had reached the end of the gallery; and with tears of shame, she ran off to her own room.
This quote is actually from Northranger Abbey by Jane Austin. It was chosen to be the introduction of Atonement. This quote is valuable because it foreshadows the theme of the novel- Atonement. The passage is nothing but a long question. The person speaking is accusing the character of accusing an innocent person of a crime. He is asking the perpetrator who is she to judge someone and asks her to use common sense, decency, and her conscience to make good decisions. "Tears of shame" show the guilt Miss Moreland shed for the wrong decisions she has made. Like Miss Moreland, Briony yearns for atonement throughout the novel.
I wish I had virtual gold stars to paste to you blogs, they're always so thoughtful. I hope you don't mind when I praise you on the public blog. You just do such great analysis.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I questioned you doing the quotes at the end of the book, but it seems to work very well. Since you have all the information in front of you, you're able to discuss it's true importance.