Atonement?

In my opinion, none of the characters in the book Atonement actually achieve atonement. Briony never achieved atonement for what she did, which is obvious at the end of the book. She was not able to get in touch with her sister or with Robbie, although apologizing would probably not have been enough consolation for her to feel less guilty about what she did. Marshall never achieved atonement, because he didn't seem to think he did anything wrong in the first place. His life continued to flourish, while several other lives were completely ruined due to his actions. Lola, who was also responsible for Robbie's conviction, probably thought she was atoning for falsely accusing Robbie by marrying the man who raped her. However, this did not affect Robbie's fate, and making herself unhappy probably did nothing for her guilt.
In the end of the novel, I did feel a little bit bad for Briony. She spent her entire life carrying around the guilt that she ruined a man's life and a romance because of her immaturity. I believe that Briony knew for a while that Marshall was guily of raping Lola, but for selfish reasons, she accused Robbie, and I feel that what she did to him was unforgivable. However, Briony did not commit the real crime in the novel- Marshall did- and it makes me feel sorry for her that she is suffering so much while he is not.