War makes you a man; war makes you dead" (O'Brien 86-87). It is interesting that Briony includes a large section of World War II in her novel, tying these two works together in many ways. Briony is writing to assuage her own guilt, but there seems to be at least some of that in O'Brien's novel, as well. He seems to be writing about these experiences to help free himself from guilt about fighting in a war that no one wanted, while Briony is trying to get over her guilt for far different reasons.
In her mind, Briony knows that she has acted rashly and without real knowledge. She thinks to herself during the accusations, "She was like a bride-to-be who begins to feel her sickening qualms as the day approaches, and dares not speak her mind because so many preparations have been made on her behalf" (McEwan 159). Her need to recreate Cecilia and Robbie's story comes from her own guilt in sending Robbie to prison, and the realization that she sent the wrong man, and violently disrupted two lives. She cannot live with her guilt, and so, she has to recreate the harsh reality of the story into something more acceptable to her readers, but more acceptable to herself, as well. This is why she has never written the story, although she has become a very famous novelist.
From an early age, Briony has showed an interest in writing, and even at 13, she understands many of the elements of fiction, which also help her replace reality with fiction in the very real story of Robbie and Cecelia. McEwan writes, "A crisis in a heroine's life could be made to coincide with hailstones, gales and thunder, whereas nuptials...
Thus, there has always seemed to be an element of unreality in Briony's life, so it would be natural for her to blend reality with fiction to create the most important story of her life. A literary critic writes, "McEwan debates fiction and fact in this historical panorama covering six decades of the twentieth century. Beginning in prewar Britain and concluding with the millennium, Atonement is a study of before and after, cause and effect, crime and punishment" (Stovel 114). Indeed, it is a novel of atonement, and so, it may have more in common with O'Brien's novel than might appear at first glance.
In conclusion, both these novels deal with reality in fictional terms. It helps make the stories more alive and real to the reader, even if they do not want to comprehend the reality behind the fiction. Neither of these stories is easy to read, but they are both richly rewarding and disturbing at the same time. Both authors understand how to blend reality with fiction, creating texture, depth, and interest, and both do it exceptionally well in these novels. They are the kind of works you want to read again, even if the details are sometimes too real to forget.
References
Calloway, Catherine. "How to Tell a True War Story: Metafiction in the Things They Carried." Critique 36.4 (1995): 249-257.
McEwan, Ian. Atonement. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
Stovel, Nora Foster. "Ian McEwan: Atonement."…
