Abstract：Ian McEwan is one of the most powerful and excellent English writers in the literary world. His Atonement describes a story that the heroine Briony made up a lie when she was young, thereby ruining the whole life of her sister Cecilia and Robbie. With the growth of Briony, she gradually realized her mistakes and tried her best to atone for her sin. And eventually she became a mature writer from a naive girl. Atonement is considered as McEwan’s elaborative work whose content and characters correspond to the characteristics of initiation story.
This thesis will interpret the novel from the perspective of initiation story to reveal the author’s understanding towards initiation and the importance of initiation.
It will be divided into four chapters. Chapter one briefly introduces Ian McEwan and his novel Atonement. Chapter two makes an introduction to the theory of initiation story. Chapter three is the main part of the thesis, analyzing the initiation theme and the initiation features embodied in the novel which includes missing mentor and ceremony of initiation. Chapter four is the summary of the thesis.
Key words: Ian McEwan Atonement Briony initiation story
摘要：伊恩·麦克尤恩是当代英国文坛最出色最具影响力的作家之一，他的《赎罪》描述了女主人公布里奥妮幼时编造了一个谎言，毁掉了姐姐和姐姐心上人罗比的一生的故事，随着布里奥妮的成长，她渐渐意识到自己的罪行，并通过自己的方式进行赎罪，最终从无知少女渐渐成长为一名成熟作家。《赎罪》作为麦克尤恩的精品之作，它的内容、人物塑造符合成长小说的特点。本文将从成长小说的角度对小说进行解读，揭示作者对成长的理解及成长的重要性。
本文将分为四部分。第一部分简要介绍作家伊恩·麦克尤恩及其小说《赎罪》。第二部分引入成长小说理论，回顾成长小说的起源，解释成长小说的定义并且讨论成长小说在人物塑造、内容、结构方面所具备的特点。第三部分是本论文的主要部分，将结合文本分析，从成长主题以及小说中所体现的成长小说特点进行分析。小说中的成长小说特点包括缺失的引路人和象征性成长仪式等。第四部分为结论，主要对前面的论点进行概括总结。
关键词: 伊恩·麦克尤恩；《赎罪》；布里奥妮；成长小说
