Atonement: Style 1 key example

Another key aspect of McEwan's style in the novel is his narrative structure. Over the course of the three parts, the narrator moves between the perspectives of different characters. While the novel contains a single, third-person narrator, it nevertheless moves between the thought patterns of several characters. Through this, McEwan explores the individual subjectivities and complex motivations of respective characters, especially how these subjectivities and motivations clash in character relationships.

In line with this narrative structure, McEwan's style can also be described as metafictional. Throughout the novel, he pays close attention to storytelling, literary form, and narrative techniques—which serves to remind the reader that the narrative is a fictional construction. McEwan takes this metafiction to the ultimate level in the epilogue, in which Briony takes over as first-person narrator and claims that she is the author behind the story that the reader has just read. As the novel comes to a close, McEwan attempts to dislodge himself from the role of author.