The thing for me is that 'atonement' can't simply be brooding. Yes, reflection is good. Reflection is necessary. But there has to be more than navel-gazing for it to work for me. I think this is why one of the quite popular redemption arcs in Game of Thrones doesn't actually work too well for me. It's mostly belly-button gazing, which while a necessary component, doesn't really do it for me. On the other hand a different redemption story in those books works for me better because it's not intended to be redemption so much as fates retribution until there's a reaction. It has more suffering than brooding until there's will to act. The second works better for me than the first.