2.1.1
Chapter 1: Key Events
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Key Event in Chapter 1 - Briony Finishes the Play
In the summer of 1935, 13-year-old Briony Tallis has just finished writing a play to mark the occasion of her brother, Leon, returning home. However, Briony becomes frustrated with her cousins while they rehearse the play.
Introduction to Briony
- McEwan introduces Briony to the reader as a budding writer who has just finished her first play, The Trials of Arabella.
- Briony’s ambitions as a writer are signalled by the fact that there is a serious purpose to her work.
Quotation: Briony's play
- “Her play was not for her cousins, it was for her brother, to celebrate his return, provoke his admiration and guide him away from his careless succession of girlfriends, towards the right form of wife… “ (p4).
"Guide" and "right"
- Briony’s desire to “guide” Leon towards “the right form of wife” is the first suggestion of a controlling instinct within her.
- We see how Briony wishes others to conform to her sense of propriety or morality.
- This judgemental streak in her personality and her keen sense of what is “right” will have serious consequences in the novel.
"Tempest of composition"
- Briony’s serious purpose is also signalled by her writing the play in a “two-day tempest of composition” which has even caused her to skip meals.
- The storm imagery hints at the chaos Briony will cause later in the novel when her impulse to create stories leads to tragic consequences.
Key Event in Chapter 1 - Briony's Bedroom
McEwan describes Briony’s bedroom, contrasting it with that of Cecilia, her older sister.
Significance of Briony's bedroom
- The detailed description of Briony’s room allows McEwan to develop his characterisation of Briony, giving us further insights into her personality.
Quotation: Briony's bedroom
- “She was one of those children possessed by a desire to have the world just so. Whereas her big sister's room was a stew of unclosed books, unfolded clothes, unmade bed, unemptied ashtrays, Briony's was a shrine to her controlling demon: the model farm spread across a deep window ledge consisted of the usual animals, but all facing one way - towards their owner…” (p4-5).
Briony's controlling nature
- In emphasising Briony’s need for order (*“a desire to have the world just so”), McEwan signals to the reader Briony’s impulse to impose control over her surroundings.
"Controlling demon"
- McEwan’s use of diabolic imagery (Briony is “possessed” by a “controlling demon”) may also foreshadow turbulence.
Importance of the farm animals
- The alignment of the farm animals so that they all face Briony suggests a need to be the centre of attention.
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
Jump to other topics
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
Practice questions on Chapter 1: Key Events
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1Which of these are true of Chapter 1 of *Atonement*? True / false
- 2What is Briony's play called?Multiple choice
- 3
- 4What objects face Briony in her room? Multiple choice
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