Atonement

by Ian McEwan

Atonement: Setting 1 key example

Definition of Setting

Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Part 2
Explanation and Analysis:

Set between England and France over the course of the 20th century, each part of Atonement features a different setting.

The first and third parts, as well as the epilogue, are set in England. More specifically, the first part takes place on the Tallis family's estate in Surrey, a county in southwestern England. The narrator dwells on the interior and exterior features of the family's estate, introducing a sense of peaceful, unchanging familiarity that is absent in later parts. The Surrey landscape comes to represent all that is lost after the novel's climax and the outbreak of WWII.