Equally Briony Tallis, of Atonement, and Leo Colston, in the Go-Between, use significant intervals of their teenage years in huge country homes, both of that happen to be surrounded by huge estates. Hartley and McEwan use the landscapes which are present throughout most of these catalogs to explore important themes such as that of developing up. There are several aspects of panoramas which imply that they give themselves as a symbol pertaining to exploring growing up: the existence of boundaries, the two natural and man-made, the existence of the noticeable and the invisible, and the fact that landscapes alter over time.
One important difference involving the landscapes inside the two novels is the fact that Briony is very familiar with hers, calling the bridge ‘an ornament thus familiar regarding be invisible’. In contrast, Leo was a guest to Brandham Hall, and is unaccustomed to the landscape. This may be reflective in the comparative confidence with which Briony faces adulthood, declaring that ‘her child years had ended’, though later admits that she may possibly have simply gained a ‘wiser knowledge of her own ignorance’, this confidence could perhaps originate from her relationship with her mother, who is quite present in her life in addition to the advice of her buddy and sis, the former of whom the lady respects and loves. Alternatively, Leo’s parents are predominantly lack of from the story and his primary source of advice is Marcus, whom in reality has a bit more understanding of the adult world than Leo.
McEwan also is exploring Briony’s understanding of the landscape during the night of the rape, when ever she is trying to find the twins as well as the landscape turns into strange and unfamiliar to her in the night, as the girl notes ‘the oak was too bulbous, the elm too straggly’. One could perhaps draw parallels between this and her experience of developing up- the girl was between familiar incidents and people, yet they were obscured and made peculiar by ‘adult emotion’, an ‘arena’ which will Briony thinks she has came into. This is similar to Leo’s lack of knowledge in the adult world, yet his difficulty is heightened by the reality he is of your different cultural class to people around him. The summer therefore offers the chance to explore not merely his growing old self, but also a fresh social establishing with different guidelines. This is mirrored in the way that Leo explores the surroundings, particularly around the first afternoon that Marcus is sick, Leo adventures ‘further afield’, to the farm building, which is associated with the adult world it is dangerous, although offers ‘challenge’ and ‘adventures’ to Leo.
This is also one of the ways by which boundaries are explored, throughout the ‘deep-rutted farm building road’ between Brandham hall and Dark-colored Farm. Through crossing this road, Leo meets Allen and this celebration is a catalyst for many adjustments and improvements in Leo’ life, mostly through carrying the letters. The farm building road may therefore become representative of the boundary between child and adult world, by traversing it Leo enters an extremely adult scenario, for which he is somewhat underprepared. Whilst conveying the road, Leo notes that he ‘could hardly receive [his foot] out’ with the ruts and imagines what would happen in the event that he may be stuck generally there. Perhaps this is reflective from the difficulty that adolescents may have in transitioning from a child to an adult- it is definately not a smooth process and this is definitely demonstrated in the Lives of both Leo and Briony as the two are often unsure of whether they are children or perhaps adults and struggle to overcome their own naivety.
In Atonement, McEwan seems to make use of water as being a symbol in the adult universe, both Celia’s undressing on the fountain as well as the rape, two situations which can be representative of the adult universe which Briony misunderstands, occur by water. It is specifically present in the fountain scene, when Cecilia immerses very little whilst Robbie looks as well as the water provides erotic associations when Robbie later thinks about the event. The fact that both the bank by the island brow and the water feature are partially hidden from sight through the house shows that the mature world is unsuitable to get the sight of children. When Briony witnesses these two situations, with these kinds of detrimental effects, this is strong. Thus McEwan may be making use of the landscape to focus on the fact that children have zero place in the adult community, particularly regarding sexuality, but that a part of growing up is exploring when to cross this boundary. Briony evidently crosses it too young in being exposed to these situations and her ignorance offers terrible effects on those around her.
Another significant difference between your landscapes in the two works of fiction is the fact which the Go-Between has only one wide-ranging setting, Brandham Hall and its surroundings, whereas Atonement has its own, including Brandham hall, Dunkirk and Birmingham. It could be contended that McEwan presents the process of growing up as more complex and that this is associated with that, Atonement looks at issues such as Briony’s relationships with her family members, her opinion of those around her, her thought processes and changing opinion of herself, and also how additional characters expand up or perhaps mature. It may be pointed out that The Go-Between truly does look at this stuff, however , McEwan explores all of them in greater depth. This is certainly partly due to his diverse style of publishing, in which this individual explores specific characters and events strongly, over 50 percent the book is spent following the events of a day, whereas The Go-Between, although not fast paced, would not explore the thoughts of each character in such depth. This gives opportunity for detailed annotation of Briony’s thoughts and feelings, just like in section 7, totally giving off the impression that Briony’s experience of growing up is far more sophisticated. In addition to writing style, this could most likely be a sign of the differences in character between Briony and Leo. Though Leo is definitely pensive, this individual has a sharper sense of right and wrong great relationships and emotions happen to be arguably certainly not hugely complicated (perhaps not necessarily an over-generalisation to claim that this is a gender big difference in teenagers).
The longer time frame over which The Go-Between is set allows Hartley to show change in the panorama, which is reflective of within Leo’s persona. One example of the is the riv, which all of us first discover during the showering excursion on the start of Leo’s visit. It is defined a second time just after this individual has been shouted at by Marian, following refusing to handle a letter. The water, which had been ‘sedgy, marshy’, is now ‘dry’ and ‘had sunk very much lower’ and where ‘not a marijuana [had] marred the surface’, there is now ‘a tangled mess of water-weeds’. This could be associated with his enjoyment of life in Brandham Hall- whilst prior to he had recently been fairly carefree and considerably enjoying the brand new experience, by this scene, Leo is smashed regarding his relationship with Marian and disillusioned concerning her romance with Allen. The ‘mad disorder’ and ‘mess’ may reflect the confusion of Leo’s feelings, particularly with regards to Marian- this individual wants to you should her, although feels torn by his conscience great feelings toward Lord Trimingham. Hartley as a result uses the landscape to focus on the most significant element of growing up: change.
In conclusion, both equally McEwan and Hartley explore growing up extensively through the landscape. In both novels, there are particular areas of the surroundings which keep particular symbolic significance, such as the sluice as well as the road inside the Go-Between and water in Atonement. The two present growing up as a horrible process and both pull particular focus on boundaries among childhood and adulthood.
