The Dichotomy Between Adolescence and Adulthood

In reading through the first section of Atonement, I was struck by the dichotomy between adolescence and adulthood.  It seems as though all the characters are fumbling somewhere in the middle of childhood and actually growing up.  It appears as though several of the main characters are all dealing with childhood but in several different ways. 

First there are the twins, Jackson and Pierrot who are obviously children.  Their concerns are playing and eating and not being punished for wetting the bed or coming down to dinner without socks.  Because they don’t understand what is going on with their parents, they are blaming Lola for their situation and decide to run away.

Lola herself is also dealing with that precarious balance between being a child and a woman.  At fifteen years old, she is highly concerned with her appearance and making herself look older and more mature (which, of course, is to her detriment).  Although only a young teen, she is tasked with the responsibility of playing the role of mother to the twins but readily accepts the lead role in Briony’s play. 

Obviously the clearest example of the dichotomy between an adult and a child is seen in the character Briony because she is, of course, is teetering on the brink of adulthood herself.  I thought it was interesting that Robbie himself, who also seems to be stuck in a form of adolescence, imagined at the dinner table how Briony was unreadable and prone to swing between maturity and childishness.  Even Emily, Briony’s mother mused on how things will be when Briony was fully grown.  However, what Emily doesn’t understand at the time is that in one evening, Briony matures from a little girl to a young lady.  She abandons her play, seeing the juvenile nature of her writing and tears down her poster.  However, in her pouting, she comes across Robbie and accepts the letter meant for Cecilia.  Because of her youth, she reads the letter and discovers the word which changes everything.  She is still too immature to see that Robbie was not attacking Cecilia in the library and decided with her underdeveloped mind that it is now her adult task to protect Cecilia.  Because of her lack of maturity and understanding the one word from Robbie’s letter becomes the foundation of her evidence against him and leads her to make a terrible accusation. 

Then there are the three young adults of the story who are all suffering from a debilitating case of refusing to grow up.  Leon seems like a classic example of a young man, given all the advantages of a wealthy family, who refuses to take the leg up his father offers him in order to continue to play and enjoy life.  It seems that Leon is responsible enough to eventually cede to his father but for the moment he seems to be more interested in hanging out with his rich friends.  Cecilia is also stuck in a rut because she is finished with school but refuses to move on from her family home, fearing she would miss out on something.  Perhaps she felt it was her responsibility to take the mother role over Briony or perhaps she couldn’t leave, secretly being in love with Robbie but that so far is only speculation.  Finally, there is Robbie who seems like the guy we all know.  He is smart and has the aptitude to do anything he sets his mind to but he can’t seem to find a way to finish anything.  He seems to flounder with how his life is meant to be and can’t ever make the decision.  I the meantime, Robbie just remains at the house, handling the landscaping and wasting his mind. 

 I think it will be interesting to see how the characters mature, if at all, as the story progresses.