How Story Telling Can Be Used As Catharsis
Catharsis is the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions. Maya Angelou once said "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” - this can be demonstrated in Ian McEwan's “Atonement” and Khalid Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner. ” The premise behind both novels is simple: both protagonists make an unforgivable decision and spend the rest of the plot trying to atone for their mistake. In both, the protagonists witness sexual assault and then use storytelling as a way to rewrite history, to apologies and to seek redemption. McEwan states how he “wanted to play with the notion of storytelling as a form of self-justification, of how much courage is involved in telling the truth to oneself”.
The concept of atonement – making up for one’s sins- is not just apoligising, but also coming to terms with one’s own changed state and accepting what has transpired – ‘at-one-ment. ” In his novel, McEwan exposes the power of storytelling - how multiple takes of one event can be interpreted very differently, resulting in entirely different catastrophic outcomes. Initially we observe the fountain sequence from Cecilia’s perspective: Cecilia rejects Robbie’s help in filling a vase with water. Robbie persists and together they break part of the rim, causing fragments to fall into the fountain; Celia punishes Robbie by silently undressing and plunging into the freezing water to retrieve the pieces - an act which makes him feel uncomfortable due to their sexual tension. Cecilia’s narration is extensively descriptive and detailed making the chapter move “slowly contributing to the sluggish air of the hot summer day. ” The vase was given to Cecilia’s Uncle Clem by the inhabitants of a French town he had helped to evacuate. Although the vase was both beautiful and valuable, it was actually admired more because of the story surrounding how Uncle Clem had come by it which gave it a mythical status. Cecilia and Robbie breaking the vase on the day they come together foreshadows that their love is broken almost before it starts. “The Triton fountain in Piazza Barberini, Rome which the Tallises’ fountain is based on, was designed in 1643. It has a dark history - until the late eighteenth century, unidentified dead bodies were displayed in front of it, and the people of Rome were invited to recognise them. ”
Perhaps this also foreshadows turmoil in Robbie’s and Cecilia’s tragic love story. A second sequence depicting the same event is played out from Briony’s point of view. She misinterprets the series of events which takes place. Through her eyes it appears as though Robbie had forced Cecilia to undress and swim in the fountain. Briony reflects on what she has seen, and imagines that she will write it down and "recast" it, "through Cecilia's eyes and then Robbie's" which is exactly what happens in the book. We are in fact reading the account she plans to write and are caught up in a reflexive, distorted sequence. Briony is writing about the younger version of herself in which she imagines actually writing the scene that she has in fact written. Later on, Briony unwittingly observes and also misinterprets Robbie and Cecilia’s passionate act of love making as sexual assault. “Briony stared past Robbie’s shoulder into the terrified eyes of her sister…he held her fore arm which was raised in protest or self-defense. ” Briony’s childlike perception, coupled with a desire for drama in her life, causes her to distort a lustful act with devastating consequences. McEwan uses different points of views to emphasise how different takes on a situation can be constructed and then twisted, thus highlighting the power of storytelling.
After the traumatic events in both novels, the writers’ style and sentence structures change, thus demonstrating how a single event can alter the way in which a story is told. In the “Kite Runner, ” chapters leading up to Hassan’s rape, a Hazara servant boy, are stated simply and stories unfold chronologically. The central act of the novel is Amir watching Hassan’s rape by Assef. Raping Hassan was not only about sex, it was about power, humiliation and revenge. Previously in the novel Hassan had threatened Aseef, a rich Pashtun boy with a powerful father, with his slingshot in return Assef swore he would get vengeance. Aseef’s beating and subsequent rape, was the perfect way to destroy Hassan. The linear structure is abandoned after Hassan’s rape. Instead, the narrator deviates to other stories reflecting Amir’s desire to avoid dealing with his witnessing of the rape: the story is interrupted by two memories representing Amir’s and Hassan’s relationship. One of Amir’s memory is the ritual slaughter of a sheep during the festival of Eid-Al-Adha. Amir is haunted by the look of acceptance is the sheep’s eye; this is the same look he identifies in Hassan’s. Perhaps, Amir’s style of writing mirrors the physical and psychological consequences of the traumatic event. Similarly, during times of stress, Amir’s sentence structure changes, becoming more hesitant and broken, mirroring the fragmentation of his mind: leading up to the attack on Hassan, he uses simple description such as “they clapped for a long time, ” and “he never told on me. ” In contrast after the traumatic he states that when walking away from the alley, “I was weeping” and that he “actually aspired to cowardice. ” Hosseini uses the word weeping instead of crying underlining a change in Amir’s appearance. Assonance is used to highlight the sinister dark tone of this chapter. Although Amir has a similar background to Hosseini and career, yet does not write about Afghanistan. Perhaps, this is because Amir at the start of the novel finds it difficult to accept his Afghan heritage, and it pains him to explore the harsh reality of his homeland. Likewise, Briony’s writing style changes after she witnesses the incident involving Cecilia and Robbie at the fountain. The incident is described as a moment of imaginative awakening and passage to more sophisticated writing. Briony realises her writing “could no longer be fairy-tale castles and princess, all icons of childhood innocence, but about ordinary everyday experiences.
Both novels depict the persecution of people from lower social classes or ethnic groups whose stories are disregarded and turned against them, whilst those in the higher echelons of society are able to lie and cover up the truth. “Atonement” reflects the rigid class system in the English society of the twentieth century based on socioeconomic distinctions, making it difficult for people to move between classes. Although Jack Tallis, Briony’s father, acknowledged Robbie’s abilities and sponsored his education at Cambridge University, Emily Tallis, Briony’s mother, does not. Thus Robbie’s social mobility creates tension in the household so when it is reported that Robbie has raped Lola, Emily does not judge whether this could be true on Robbie’s persona, but instead on his social position. She believes he is guilty as this is the behavior society expected from a working-class man. On the other hand, due to Paul Marshall’s, an affluent chocolatier, social standing, he is beyond suspicion. Danny Hardman, also a working class boy, is the only other character considered to be a possible culprit. Similarly, in “The Kite Runner” Ali, who is a loyal servant and friend to Amir’s father, and Hassan are part of the Hazara ethnic group, a lower caste, in Afghanistan, and as such their opinions and views on politics and other matters are dismissed. When Amir, who is part of the superior Pushtun ethnic group, reads Hassan his first novel, Hassan is enthralled by the story and even tells Amir he will be “a great writer. ” However, he identifies a loop hole which infuriates Amir causing him to exclaim, “What does he know, the illiterate Hazara? He’ll never be anything but a cook. ” Here we see that Hassan is defined by an ethnicity, not as an individual. . Later on in the novel, Amir finds records of the persecution and oppression of the Hazaras by the Pushtons in his mother’s books. He tries to discuss this with his teacher, who dismisses him underlining how those less fortunate are disregarded. After winning the kite running contest Amir goes looking for Hassan. He asks the neighbors is they had seen him; one old merchant asks “What is a boy like you doing here at this time of the day looking for a Hazara?” Thus underlining that the association between Pushtons and Hazaras was uncommon. Meanwhile, Aseef threatens Hassan to give him the winning kite; he then insults him calling him “an ugly pet Hazara. ” Assef and the other bullies then pin Hassan to the ground without his pants. Wali, one of the bullies, says his father believes what they are considering doing to Hassan is sinful, but Assef says he is only a Hazara. The image of Assef, a rich Pashtun boy with a powerful father, raping Hassan, a poor Hazara, conveys rape of Afghanistan’s powerless by those who have power. In the lowest of all deeds, Amir plants his new wristwatch and a wad of cash under Hassan’s mattress and informs Baba that his gifts are missing. He does this in hope Hassan will be sent away; Amir naïvely thinks if Hassan were to be sent away he would no longer be tormented by his decision to stand and watch Hassan get raped. Due to Hassan’s low social standing, once he admits to his crimes he is punished, it is never questioned why he stole Amir’s things or if in fact he is lying; however as readers we are aware Hassan lies to honor and protect Amir.
Both protagonists in the novels use storytelling to seek redemption for their past mistakes: Briony accuses Robbie, the wrong man, of rape, whilst Amir cowardly watches Hassan get raped. “Atonement” illustrates the deep power of writing and storytelling: “Briony can use her writing to reframe her past misdeeds, empathise with the consciousness of others, and even bring Robbie and Cecilia back to life. ” Her novel is her act of atonement for her offence. Likewise, Amir tells his story as way of redeeming the mistakes he made as a child, reconcile the events in his life, and to rid himself of the guilt he has carried since childhood. His success as a writer stems back from a desire to assuage his guilt by doing something Hassan would like and support. He uses the storybook he teased his half-brother, Hassan, about to build a bridge and apologise for letting Hassan’s son, Sohrab (his nephew) down. Amir only realises as an adulthood that Hassan is his half-brother and then that he forced his father to betray his son, thus excreting his guilt. Adopting Sohrab and taking him to the United States, and reading to him can be seen as an attempt to reconnect to Hassan. One technique both Hosseini and McEwan use to convey the power of storytelling is through flashbacks. The events in the “Kite Runner” are mainly narrated by its protagonist, Amir. The novel commences with Amir juxtaposing his “past of unatoned sins” in Afghanistan with his present life in the United States. The sighting of a “pair of kites;” on San Francisco’s “Golden Gate Park” reinforces this and transports Amir back to his memories of Kabul. Until the Taliban banned kite fighting in 1996 it had been a traditional sport. Although the story is set initially in December 2001, within the first chapter, Hosseini launches the readers back in time- first to a phone call and then to a series of life-altering events which took place in 1975. Amir’s choice of language when talking about the past carries much emotion. The reference to “peaking into the alley” foreshadows Amir’s decision to watch Hassan get raped. Amir is only able to foreshadow as the rest of the story is written as a series of extended flashbacks. Amir is addressing us after the end of the story therefore he is aware of how the story ends. This technique enables the narrator to foreshadow events, building dramatic tension. Sections of the novel which are set in San Francisco reflect Hosseini’s own life.
In 1980 Hosseini’s family left Afghanistan and settled in San Jose. “The setting in 1970s Kabul, the house where Amir lived, the films that he watches, of course the kite flying, the love for storytelling - all of that is from my own childhood. The story line is fictional” (Khaled Hosseini interview with Erika Milvy) perhaps the novel is cathartic for Hosseini himself? In Atonement, flashbacks are used help to foreshadow and convey the guilt that Briony felt after she committed her “crime. ” In addition, as readers we question the events which take place in both novels as both, protagonists are unreliable narrators. Amir’s first person narrative about his childhood has two perspectives: that of the child and the reworked, possibly misremembered, memories of the adult. Altering or forgetting certain details from events in the past is normal. The likelihood of this happening with Amir is probable as he is grief-stricken over certain events in his past and may depict himself as immoral out of guilt. “Atonement” is split into three sections, all revolving around different time periods and characters. Before reading the epilogue, we are led to believe that Robbie survives World War II, Cecilia and Robbie’s love story continues and Briony attempts to mend her relationship with the lovers. “Atonement” is a reflective novel; the novel itself includes a long passage of detailed criticism about an earlier version of the story, “Two Figures by a Fountain, ” written in the form of a letter to Briony from “CC” (the famous critic, Cyril Connolly, presumably. ) Briony often comments on the numerous times she has redrafted her novel in order to achieve historic accuracy. This makes us question, as readers, the reliability of her novel and which elements of the novel did not meet Connolly’s criticism. In the epilogue, Briony is reveled the omniscient narrator.
The meta-narrative epilogue then goes on to deny past events and instead states that Robbie dies of septicemia during the war; the bomb that destroyed Balham Underground station killed Cecilia and Briony never visited the lovers in 1940. It is also revealed at the end that Briony has vascular dementia and thus is losing her memory which leads one to question her reliability as a storyteller. Furthermore Briony’s guilt may have led her to temper the portrayal of Robbie and Cecilia, perhaps describing them more innocently. Briony states in the epilogue there will always be readers who ask “But what really happened?” Those particular readers resemble the younger Briony as they are unable to draw the line between fiction and reality. She tells these invisible readers that they lived “happily ever after, ” not because this is what happened in reality, but because that is what she has written. . Briony needs a sympathetic audience to relieve herself of guilt and so she can confess her crimes. Stories enable interactions between personal and global history; for example although “The Kite Runner” is the story of Amir, it is also the story of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the first years of the twentieth century. For example the coup which Amir describes occurred on 17 July 1973 when forces by former PM Mohammed Daoud Khan overthrew King Zhair Shah and Afghanistan’s monarchy. Aseef becoming a leader of the Taliban, Amir’s and Baba’s treacherous journey as refugees to America, and Baba’s confrontation with the Russian soldier, who tries to rape a women, are other examples of how fictional events can be based around true events or concepts. Perhaps the most symbolic interaction between personal and historical events is when the Taliban banned kite fighting and flying. This underlines how opposing the Taliban were the desires of everyday Afghan people. Hosseini intertwines history and the story of Amir, enabling Afghanistan’s history to become an integral part of the plot not just an obstruction or interference. The intertwining of fact and fiction is also a feature of “Atonement. ”
Part II and III of the novel are set during World War II. However, a background awareness of the Second World War is presented in Part I. For example references are made to the “Abyssinia Crisis” and “Hitler” alongside Paul Marshalls, a wealthy chocolatier, who hopes to cash in on any conflict by selling camouflage designed chocolate bars. Through the novel there are references to the war’s destruction, ‘They saw farmhouses burning… dozen or so English soldiers on the road. They had to get out and drag the men aside to avoid running them over. But a couple of the bodies were almost cut in half. ” The incident in which Robbie saw two men operating a Norton motorcycle whilst ones “bloodied legs dangled uselessly… his pillion passenger, who had heavily bandaged arms, was working the foot pedals…” is based on one of McEwan’s father’s experiences during the Second World War. Whilst at the hospital where Briony worked, hundreds of wounded soldiers are spread out all over the hospital lawn. Soldiers experienced constant traumatic incidents they began to normalize horrific sights, seeing “a child’s limb in a tree was something that ordinary men could ignore. ” The juxtaposing of everyday life with the nightmarish and alien makes the war real.
In conclusion, storytelling enables both protagonists to come to terms with their guilt. McEwan states how he “was in love with Briony and all her mistakes” in an interview with Kate Kellaway. At thirteen neither Briony nor Amir are equipped to deal or understand the events they witnessed. They punish themselves through adultleance for the sins of their childhood; however, storytelling and writing enable the characters to atone and forgive. It is therefore no coincidence that both protagonist pursued a career in writing.
