Atonement+Motif+and+Themes

= As the motif of Atonement emerges, record moments when the theme is developed interestingly. Add your ideas about what Morrison is trying to say and how she explores the theme. See Motherhood Motif and Themes for an example =

Some things make it impossible for you to forgive yourself. You have to accept the consequences of your actions
 * Theme
 * p. # "quote"
 * " 'I got a tree on my back... I paid for the ticket, but let me tell you something, Paul D. Garner: it cost too much!' " (1.1 pg 15). This shows Sethe's attempts to atone for what she did when she ran away and killed her daughter. She is atoning by staying and bearing the burdens of her wrongdoings.
 * "It was some time before he could put Alfred, Georgia... one by one, into the tobacco tin lodged in his chest. By the time he got to 124 nothing in this world could pry it open." (1.10 hardcover: pg. 133)
 * "Rather than forfeit the one privilege he claimed for himself, he lowered his head and left the porch." pg. 172 2.1

When Sethe realizes that Beloved is her dead daughter come back from the grave, she is extremely happy because she thinks that Beloved has forgiven her. She goes back to all of the memories she has repressed and tells herself that she can forget them now that her sin has been restored and her daughter has been returned to her.
 * Section 2, pg. 183 "I don't have to remember nothing. I don't even have to explain. She understands it all."

Stamp feels bad over the fact that Paul D had to sleep in his friends cellar, and he offers his explaination and apology. Hardcover, pg.272 - "You choose. You ain't got to sleep in no cellar, and I apologize for each and every night you did. I don't know how that preacher let you do it. I knowed him since he was a boy."