Both Briony Tallis, of Atonement, and Leo Colston, of The Go-Between, spend significant periods of their adolescence in large country houses, both surrounded by large properties. Hartley and McEwan use the landscapes found in many of these books to explore key themes such as growth. There are several aspects of landscapes that make them a symbol to be explored growing up: the presence of borders, both natural and artificial, the existence of the visible and the hidden and the fact that landscapes change over time. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A key difference between the landscapes in the two novels is that Briony is very familiar with hers, calling the bridge “such a familiar ornament” that it is invisible.” In contrast, Leo has been a guest at Brandham Hall and is not used to the scenery. This may reflect the relative confidence with which Briony faces adulthood, declaring that "her childhood was over", although she later admits that she may have only acquired a "knowledge wiser than her own ignorance"; this trust could perhaps derive from the relationship with his mother, who is very present in his life, as well as from the advice of his brother and sister, who respects and loves the former. In contrast, Leo's parents are predominantly absent in the novel and his main source of advice is Marcus, who actually has little more understanding of the adult world than Leo. McEwan also explores Briony's familiarity with the landscape on the night of the rape, when she is searching for the twins and in the darkness the landscape becomes strange and unfamiliar to her, as she notes that "the oak was too bulbous, the elm too messy" . A parallel could perhaps be drawn between this and her experience of growing up: she was surrounded by familiar events and people, yet they were obscured and made strange by "adult emotions", an "arena" which Briony believes she has entered. This is similar to Leo's ignorance in the adult world, but his difficulty is accentuated by the fact that he belongs to a different social class than those around him. Summer therefore offers the opportunity to explore not only one's maturing self, but also a new social context with different rules. This is reflected in the way Leo explores the landscape, particularly in the early afternoon when Marcus is ill; Leo ventures "further", to the farm, which is representative of the adult world: it is dangerous, but offers "challenges" and "adventures" to Leo. This is also one of the ways in which the boundaries are explored, via the 'deeply rutted farm road' between Brandham Hall and Black Farm. Crossing this road, Leo meets Ted and this event is a catalyst for many changes and developments in Leo's life, especially through the transportation of the letters. The farm road could therefore be representative of the border between the childish and adult worlds; crossing it Leo enters a very adult situation, for which he is a little unprepared. Describing the road, Leo notes that he "couldn't get [his foot] out" of the ruts and imagines what would happen if he got stuck there. Perhaps this reflects the difficulty teenagers might have in transitioning from children to adults: it is far from a smooth process and this is demonstrated in Leo and Briony's lives as they are both often unsure whether they are children or not. adults and struggle to overcome their naivety. In Atonement, McEwan seems to use water as a symbol of the adult world; both Celia's undressing at the fountain and the rape, two situations representative of the adult world that Briony misunderstands, occur on water. It is particularly present in the scene.