Friday, 7 January 2022
Atonement Key Passages
Library Passages
Briony’s version, pg 123 - 124
Opening line: ‘At rst, when she pushed open the door…’
Closing line: ‘…it was not clear which way she had gone.’
• Briony making this event worse than it actually is, exaggerating small things she
witnesses into a huge matter - ‘this illusion’ and ‘over-anxious imagination’
support idea that she is making this out to be worse than it was for the purpose of
being the all-knowing god/author that she wants to be (gives her better plot for
her novel).
• Describes vicious attack almost exaggerated in her own mind, a ‘hand to hand
ght’, proving her interpretation that Robbie is attacking Cecilia - dehumanising,
‘wild’.
• As an avid writer, her mind is so vivid and her imagination is so powerful that her
mind seems to change/add on to what she is actually seeing. She even senses
herself that her ’over-anxious imagination’ had projected this scene, clearly
conveying that narration of events is not to be completely trusted.
• Describes what she is seeing as an ‘illusion’, perhaps suggesting that she is so
overwhelmed by what she is seeing that her immature mind is making it out to be
something untrue.
• Believes that to commit an act this vulgar it must be out of Cecilia’s will. Fixates
on Robbie’s dominance as she couldn’t see any sign of ‘Cecilia’s gratitude’.
• Repulsed tone implies she has been traumatised by witnessing this, could
foreshadow her later abstinence until she is older in the novel - one of the many
turning points for her trajectory from innocence to maturity?
• Embellishes what she sees, ctionalising truth to make it into [her] story.
• Cecilia is ‘frail’, ‘struggling’ and has ‘terri ed eyes’, evoking feeling that she is a
victim, with Robbie against her will.
• Makes their romance seem like a crime (an ‘attack’), Briony immediately
assuming the worst may be a re ection on how she was parented - maybe more
justi able as she was a child, doesn’t know any better, trying to avoid inevitable
awkwardness.
• Her perception re ects how damaging it can be for sex to be such a taboo topic.
1
fi fi fifl fi fl fi
, Friday, 7 January 2022
Robbie’s version, pg 131 - 139
Opening line: ‘Half an hour before there had been no hope at all.’
Closing line: ‘It was over.’
• Robbie’s perspective clearly shows love, passion and maturity between the two
characters - total opposite of vicious attack which Briony described.
• Much more honest and real, logical - dialogue is blunt, almost awkward, making it
seem more realistic. Trying to di use the situation in a calm manner initially.
• Romantic and sensual rather than violent, as he describes that he is ‘overwhelmed
by her beauty’.
• Sex described as sensual and intimate, still attempting to refrain from each other
and the desire between them. Connection between them despite Cecilia’s lack of
experience - acting on instinct alone.
• Cecilia instigates the interaction, proving that she was not a victim, as she is
‘drawing him with her’, therefore she is actually in control and is a participant.
• More developed structurally - intense detail.
• He is ‘spineless’ and a ‘coward’, evoking pity from the reader as he wants to leave
the awkward and humiliating situation.
• Adrenaline and lust: ‘nothing as singular or as important had happened since the
day of his birth’ ampli es clear di erence in maturity between Briony and Robbie
(Briony not mature enough, Robbie feels more than prepared).
• Lengthy description re ects repressed emotions for Cecilia, Briony’s interruption
marks how she has prevented them from ourishing - McEwan preparing reader
for the butter y e ect of catastrophic events that happen to Robbie from this
moment on.
Part One - Briony
pg 1 - 2
Opening line: ‘The play, for which Briony had…’
Closing line: ‘…with the medical prince on a ‘windy sunlit day in spring’.’
• Uses her talent and imagination to show o to others.
• The ‘orderly troupe of farm animals lined along the window-sill’ links to Noah’s
ark, and how the animals lined up to enter it. This could symbolise how Briony is
Noah doing the will of McEwan, the true omnipotent gure within Atonement.
2
fl ff fifl ffff flff fi
Atonement Key Passages
Library Passages
Briony’s version, pg 123 - 124
Opening line: ‘At rst, when she pushed open the door…’
Closing line: ‘…it was not clear which way she had gone.’
• Briony making this event worse than it actually is, exaggerating small things she
witnesses into a huge matter - ‘this illusion’ and ‘over-anxious imagination’
support idea that she is making this out to be worse than it was for the purpose of
being the all-knowing god/author that she wants to be (gives her better plot for
her novel).
• Describes vicious attack almost exaggerated in her own mind, a ‘hand to hand
ght’, proving her interpretation that Robbie is attacking Cecilia - dehumanising,
‘wild’.
• As an avid writer, her mind is so vivid and her imagination is so powerful that her
mind seems to change/add on to what she is actually seeing. She even senses
herself that her ’over-anxious imagination’ had projected this scene, clearly
conveying that narration of events is not to be completely trusted.
• Describes what she is seeing as an ‘illusion’, perhaps suggesting that she is so
overwhelmed by what she is seeing that her immature mind is making it out to be
something untrue.
• Believes that to commit an act this vulgar it must be out of Cecilia’s will. Fixates
on Robbie’s dominance as she couldn’t see any sign of ‘Cecilia’s gratitude’.
• Repulsed tone implies she has been traumatised by witnessing this, could
foreshadow her later abstinence until she is older in the novel - one of the many
turning points for her trajectory from innocence to maturity?
• Embellishes what she sees, ctionalising truth to make it into [her] story.
• Cecilia is ‘frail’, ‘struggling’ and has ‘terri ed eyes’, evoking feeling that she is a
victim, with Robbie against her will.
• Makes their romance seem like a crime (an ‘attack’), Briony immediately
assuming the worst may be a re ection on how she was parented - maybe more
justi able as she was a child, doesn’t know any better, trying to avoid inevitable
awkwardness.
• Her perception re ects how damaging it can be for sex to be such a taboo topic.
1
fi fi fifl fi fl fi
, Friday, 7 January 2022
Robbie’s version, pg 131 - 139
Opening line: ‘Half an hour before there had been no hope at all.’
Closing line: ‘It was over.’
• Robbie’s perspective clearly shows love, passion and maturity between the two
characters - total opposite of vicious attack which Briony described.
• Much more honest and real, logical - dialogue is blunt, almost awkward, making it
seem more realistic. Trying to di use the situation in a calm manner initially.
• Romantic and sensual rather than violent, as he describes that he is ‘overwhelmed
by her beauty’.
• Sex described as sensual and intimate, still attempting to refrain from each other
and the desire between them. Connection between them despite Cecilia’s lack of
experience - acting on instinct alone.
• Cecilia instigates the interaction, proving that she was not a victim, as she is
‘drawing him with her’, therefore she is actually in control and is a participant.
• More developed structurally - intense detail.
• He is ‘spineless’ and a ‘coward’, evoking pity from the reader as he wants to leave
the awkward and humiliating situation.
• Adrenaline and lust: ‘nothing as singular or as important had happened since the
day of his birth’ ampli es clear di erence in maturity between Briony and Robbie
(Briony not mature enough, Robbie feels more than prepared).
• Lengthy description re ects repressed emotions for Cecilia, Briony’s interruption
marks how she has prevented them from ourishing - McEwan preparing reader
for the butter y e ect of catastrophic events that happen to Robbie from this
moment on.
Part One - Briony
pg 1 - 2
Opening line: ‘The play, for which Briony had…’
Closing line: ‘…with the medical prince on a ‘windy sunlit day in spring’.’
• Uses her talent and imagination to show o to others.
• The ‘orderly troupe of farm animals lined along the window-sill’ links to Noah’s
ark, and how the animals lined up to enter it. This could symbolise how Briony is
Noah doing the will of McEwan, the true omnipotent gure within Atonement.
2
fl ff fifl ffff flff fi
