Blog #3 Atonement

Page 54
"... Jackson himself looked distraught as the word left him, but no wishing could bring it back now, and for all he could tell, saying it out loud was as great a crime as the act itself, whatever that was...."

This occurs when the three Quincey children are talking about their parents' divorce and I thought this was interesting in looking at how language can change over time. Jackson mentions that his parents are divorced and he and his siblings are somehow in shock over this statement. Lola was particularly mad at this, but Jackson defends his statement as being the truth. Looking forward to today and the prevalence of divorce, it is funny that the children felt so embarrassed that this word was used despite them being in private. Their reaction is understandable because divorce was much less common. When the children were talking about divorce at this time, there was such a negative connotation about the word. Obviously, divorce is still negative, but the kids were acting like it was taboo to talk about. When reading, I felt like they believed that because they mentioned the word something bad was going to happen. It could also be that they were in denial that their parents were separated, especially Lola. What is sad, is that the Quincey children may feel extra lonely at this point because their parents are no longer with each other nor with them. Jackson's mention of the divorce seemed to really set Lola off. Even today, divorce would be tough on any child, but at this time in the story they must feel like there is no one else who knows what they're going through. This could make sense of their reaction to just one word: divorce.