2.3.1
Chapter 3: Key Events
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Key Event in Chapter 3: Briony's Observation
Briony, in a break from play rehearsals with her cousins, observes the scene between Cecilia and Robbie at the fountain from the upstairs nursery windows. It immediately fires her imagination.
What does Briony witness?
- Briony witnesses Cecilia stripping off her blouse and skirt in front of Robbie and stepping into the fountain.
- Briony’s initial interpretation of the event is flawed; the first of many mis-readings which will eventually culminate in tragedy.
Quotation: Briony's interpretation
- “A proposal of marriage. Briony would not have been surprised. She herself had written a tale in which a humble woodcutter saved a princess from drowning and ended up marrying her. What was presented here fitted well… It made perfect sense” (p38).
Briony's fairy tale interpretation
- Briony misinterprets the scene below.
- She is driven by the creative impulse to impose a storyline on what she has just seen but her own limited experience of life prevents her from seeing anything other than a fairy tale version of reality.
Dramatic irony & class difference
- McEwan creates dramatic irony in that we as readers know Briony is misinterpreting the scene and this, in turn, helps to build tension.
- It is also notable that even the young Briony recognises the class difference between Cecilia and Robbie, mirrored in the figures of the “woodcutter” (clearly based on the gardener, Robbie) and the “princess”.
- This story (of the princess’ rescue from drowning) will again be referred to in Part Two of the novel.
Key Event in Chapter 3: Briony's Response to the Fountain
Briony responds to the scene by the fountain as a writer.
Briony's imagination
- Briony’s imagination is fired by what she has just witnessed and she begins to question how she could represent the scene in her own fiction.
Quotation: Briony's writing
- “… She sensed she could write a scene like the one by the fountain and she could include a hidden observer like herself… She could write the scene three times over, from three points of view... None of these three was bad, nor were they particularly good. She need not judge…” (p40).
Briony's maturity
- Briony shows some signs of maturity here in that, although she includes herself in this fictional version of the scene, she does not place herself at its centre.
- Instead, she recognises the need for the writer to detach herself somewhat from the scene and not “judge” events.
Irony in Briony's thoughts
- However, Briony’s thoughts are again laden with irony: at the end of Part One, Briony will indeed “judge” with disastrous consequences.
- McEwan creates further irony in Briony’s reflection of “how easy it was to get everything wrong, completely wrong”.
- A further layer of irony is created by the fact that, as we will later learn, Briony is the narrator of what we are reading.
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 3: Key Events
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1Where does Briony feature of the narrative in Chapter 3?Multiple choice
- 2
- 3What does Briony ironically say of narrating events?Multiple choice
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