In Ian McEwan's award-winning novel Atonement, young Briony Tallis must try to make amends for her wrongdoings towards her older sister Cecelia and her love interest, Robbie. At the end of the novel, the short twenty-page coda titled “London, 1999” proves surprisingly necessary for the final realization of the novel to fully occur. Although some argue that the coda is unnecessary and ruins the fairytale ending that McEwan previously created for his novel, the information revealed in this brief final section of the novel provides a sense of closure. The need is revealed through Briony's words, actions, and the final revelation of her final motive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The conclusion that develops involves Cecilia and Robbie, Paul and Lola, and Briony herself. Before the coda, the reader is led to believe that both Cecilia and Robbie, after their lives were separated by captivity and war, have reunited and live happily ever after: a happy ending that one would expect to happen in any stereotyped novel. In the coda, however, Briony casually reveals that both lovers met their untimely ends due to the war: “I can no longer think what purpose would be served if, say, I tried to persuade my reader, direct or indirect means, that Robbie Turner died of septicemia at Bray Dunes on 1 June 1940, or that Cecilia was killed in September of the same year by the bomb that destroyed Balham tube station” (McEwan, 350). This is a great shock to the reader, who has now formed a sense of belonging and feeling with the characters. Another surprising aspect is revealed in the coda: the consequences of Paul Marshall and his wife, Briony's cousin Lola. Paul is much older than Lola and is now in his eighties. Lola, by contrast, is only in her seventies and much more agile and youthful than her male counterpart; she was "still lean and fit as a racing dog, and still faithful" (337). This liveliness shocks Briony. He even goes so far as to compare Lola to the famous villain Cruella De Vil. Lola's cheerfulness annoys Briony because she knows she won't be able to publish the final draft of her novel until all the parts mentioned are dead, for fear of being heavily sued for libel: “I might outlive Paul Marshall, but Lola would definitely outlive me . The consequences of this are clear… As my editor once said, publication amounts to litigation” (338-339). She is very afraid that Lola will outlive her and, in turn, her literature, and therefore the truth, will never be published for the world to see; his atonement will never be accomplished. The reader is exposed to Briony's newfound purpose in life (or purpose for the continuation of her life in general) in the coda. He has to publish the novel, one way or another. It is through this novel that Briony feels she has made up for the mistakes of her childhood. Is it really possible to atone for one's sins through a work of fiction? In a way, it would be easy to say yes, as long as the information contained in the narrative was factual. Here, however, lies the absolutely obvious problem: how do we know what is “real” and what is totally imaginary? One must, of course, look at the events in the queue with a grain of salt. All this is, of course, fictional, invented by Ian McEwan. However, you can't help but feel a little confused about the progression of the novel within the novel. Briony raises her own question on this topic when she asks, “How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with his absolute power to.