A look at ATONEMENT

A movie or a text has boundless possibilities of interpretation. That's why perhaps literary theories gained so popularity in last decades. Yesterday I watched Atonement. A stupendous movie. It abounds in loops or aporia.  But a careful viewer can deconstruct the psychological loops in the movie. The movie will also remind you of Barthes "typology of codes". According to Barthes there are five codes through which one can interpret a text. These are respectively: Hermeneutic Code, Proairetic Code, Semantic Code, Symbolic Code and Cultural Code. I will not go on explaining all the codes here because the subject of my emphasis is symbols and psychological loops in the movie Atonement.  

According to Hermeneutic Code , a critic deciphers the inherent meaning which is not overt on the surface of a text. The mysterious meaning in Atonement is Briony's psycho-sexual desires for Robby and her Id, Ego and repressed self. The movie has infinite possibilities for psycho analysis. 

 

Here is the summary of Atonement (movie) - When Briony Tallis, 13 years old and an aspiring writer, sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner at the fountain in front of the family estate she misinterprets what is happening thus setting into motion a series of misunderstandings and a childish pique that will have lasting repercussions for all of them. Robbie is the son of a family servant toward whom the family has always been kind. They paid for his time at Cambridge and now he plans on going to medical school. After the fountain incident, Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia and concludes that Robbie is a deviant. When her cousin Lola is raped, she tells the police that it was Robbie she saw committing the deed when in fact it was a visitor to the estate. (source: review) 

 

Symbolic Code - Its so paradoxical that Robby Turner dies out of thirst while Cecilia dies by drowning. And it does relate to the fatal incidents in the beginning of the story that affected the unconscious of Briony. One incident occurs at the pond where Briony plunges into the water so that Robby will save her life. Plunging into the water to get her love is a powerful symbol that communicates with another such incident in which Cecilia plunges into the fountain water to get a broken piece of vase. She does this act in anger but it also represents her thirst like other characters. Here Briony sees both at the fountain and misinterprets the whole incident. This misinterpretation rises from her unconscious desire for Robby. And in her anger and envy she unconsciously takes revenge upon Robby and Cecilia. The last scene of the movie is shoot at the ideal beach house where Cecilia and Robby plays with water on the beach. Thus in the whole story Thirst and Water becomes prominent symbols. 

The movie poses a very interesting question in my mind - the writer of the novel Atonement in the movie is Briony who says that the novel is autobiographical but she has changed the ending by making it possible for Cecilia and Robby to live together forever. Now she says that ‘as a final act of kindness I gave them their happiness…which they deserved… .’ To give a sense of hope to readers she ends it happily. Now I wonder whether it is fine to change the reality, to cater the naked truth or it is better to slant the truth and sustain the hope ? I wonder if someday I write my own story , will I change my true emotions and tragedies and if I do so will I do in order to fill the readers with a hope or in order to pacify my own guilty heart and to eradicate my criminal feelings ? 

A Passage to India : A Rich Food for Mind and Soul

A Passage to India is a 1984 drama film written and directed by David Lean. The screenplay is based on the 1924 novel of the same title by E.M. Forster and the 1960 play by Santha Rama Rau that was inspired by the novel.I haven't read the novel yet but the film was an unforgettable experience. On the basis of the movie , I would like to discuss few things which seem to be important to me at present. 


In the movie, I discerned the theory of Orientalism (as proposed by Edward Said in his book Orientalism ,published in 1978). The following pointers will show my understanding of Orientalism through the movie-


1.) In the beginning of the story when Mrs Moore and Adela are going to the Chandrapore , a fictional city of India ,the wife of collector says to them " East is East. It is a matter of culture." Thus indicating the Eurocentric Universalism which takes for granted the Superiority of West and inferiority of what is not (i.e. East). 


2.) In the movie , the mindset of Westerners / Imperialists is very adroitly captured. The Indians are despised. They are treated as surrogate or even underground self. They are not supposed to befriended. East becomes the projection of those aspects of Westerners which they themselves refuse to acknowledge (cruelty, barbarism, laziness, sexuality and alike.) When Dr. Aziz is accused of attempted rape on Adela , White people says disdainfully that darker men are attracted towards white ladies (thanks to Mr. Amrit Rao who objects with a memorable repartee " Even if the lady is not so attractive?" ).


3.) Recognizing East as undeveloped pool of barbarism , at the same time and paradoxically , Westerners tend to recognize East as a fascinating realm of exotic, mystical and seducing. This is presented through the characters of Adela and Mrs Moore. Both are fascinated by India and seized by Indian spirit. Mrs Moore wonderfully utters her view of India when she says , " India forces you to come face to face with your real self." And it really does so in both Mrs Moore and more overtly in Adela's case. 

Adela Quested

These are three important factors of Orientalism which are so truly reflected in the movie. On the plain of symbolism also the movie excels. The presentation through cinematography is so keen. When the camera pauses on the moon-lit holy water of Ganga , seducing ancient statues in isolated places and dark caves of Marabar hills you are deeply shocked like protagonist and forget you are watching an English movie. The after-effect is so mesmerizing. The story presents an inter relation between explicit motifs like monkey , seducing statues and caves. Motifs stress the sexual tension of protagonist as well as her confrontation of this tension. Adela Quested is engaged to Ronny Heaslop. When she watches the Chandrapore from distance she is troubled by her loveless engagement with Ronny Heaslop. She questions Dr.Aziz about his marriage and whether he loved his wife before marriage. Later, the echoes in the cave (echo of her own unconscious self) greatly disturb her and make her confront her real self  which she misinterprets as a sexual assault by Dr. Aziz. Thus the novel becomes rich on the psychological and symbolical level. 


At the end of the novel , Dr. Aziz does not befriend Richard Fielding but waits and prays for the day India would be released from British Colonial Rule. Forster employs Ambivalent attitude towards East and its relationship with West of which Homi Bhabha talks in Post Colonial Theory. The movie is a great treat for those who want to but can not read all literature under the sun. And interestingly, I found the movie A Passage to India better than other movies based on novels. I bet you wont regret watching it even if you are no good a reader because it provides ample food for mind and spirit. And if you are a proud scholar of literature then you can't miss it because it not only helps to understand Post Colonial Theory and Orientalism but it also gives you an insight of the most important work of a major twentieth century writer E.M Forster.

Mrs Moore (Peggy Ashcroft) who becomes
at the age of 77,
the first oldest actor to receive Academy Award
for best Supporting actress

Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse

So many thoughts are hurling up in my mind but channeling them towards the line of this Blog , I will talk about the book in my hand and my thoughts as they run while reading it.

Presently , I am reading Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. New York review had said that its his greatest work. But I wont agree to it until I have read all works written by him , because I believe even a line written by an author in leisure can be great than his greatest of novels. Well , Hesse disturbs me. When I am with him , I am aware of a mirror that shows you your contradictory self. The dichotomy within you is unleashed.

Narcissus is mind : disciplined, logical and therefore dry. Goldmund is heart : passionate, imaginative and therefore beautiful but dangerous. Narcissus believes that a particular road is destined for you to explore your gifts and whatever it is, you must accept and find your way. He helps Goldmund to recognize his exclusive way and himself retires for the cloister life. Goldmund, who for long had been cherishing the life of mind suddenly finds himself out in the world discovering women and love.

I have myself many times experienced this dichotomy within. I have been Narcissus sometimes, unconsciously punishing my soul for some inherent guilt and sometimes I had been too passionate like Goldmund to learn all that is wonderful in the world. Lately , I have been contemplating about the ways of self-destruction and if what seems self-destruction is really something destructive or there can be more beneath it. And this is closely related to my vision of Black Moon.

I am curious to know where Goldmund's path leads him to. And what happens to Narcissus. I will quote some lines from the text which even I had contemplated many times  :

Yes, life itself bore something of guilt within it - why else had a man so pure and aware as Narcissus subjected himself to penance like a condemned felon? And why did he himself feel this guilt somewhere deep inside him?

There are many paragraphs and lines which you feel you have thought it yourself before and perhaps this and not so much else that prompts you to read on , that makes a work so familiar and you cant help picking up works by such an author.