Title: Reason or Emotion: On “Justice” in Atonement

Abstract: Justice is the value that human society has been striving to realize since ancient times. It encompasses man’s vision of a good society. British contemporary novelist Ian McEwan, in his 2001 novel Atonement, shows his concern and exploration of the issue of “justice” in many aspects. Through presenting the suffering of good people, the novel shows the paradox of justice caused by man’s respect for reason and dismissal of the role of emotion under the influence of the rationalist view of justice. In the face of the paradox of justice, McEwan explores the way of atonement through Briony’s words: under the guidance of the theory of emotional justice and on the basis of poetic justice, the literary judge, being the perfect fusion of rationality and emotion, makes a fair moral judgment, so as to realize the positive social significance.

Keywords: Ian McEwan, Atonement, justice, reason, emotion

Authors: Xiaolin Zhang, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China; Xi Xi, Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.