2.4.1
Chapter 4: Key Events
Key Events in Chapter 4: Cecilia Comforts & Paul Marshall
Key Events in Chapter 4: Cecilia Comforts & Paul Marshall
Briony’s older brother, Leon Tallis, arrives with his friend, Paul Marshall.
Cecilia comforting Briony
Cecilia comforting Briony
- Cecilia wishes to comfort Briony who is upset about her play.
- From Cecilia’s perspective, we see Briony as the younger sister, frustrated by her struggle to emerge from childhood.
Quotation: Briony as "baby"
Quotation: Briony as "baby"
- ”She wanted to comfort her sister, for Cecilia had always loved to cuddle the baby of the family” (p44).
- The description of Briony as a “baby” underlines Briony’s immaturity despite Cecilia’s own recognition that her younger sister is “changing”.
- In wanting to help her sister, Cecilia is looking for a “release” from her own turbulent emotions and to help restore a “sense of control” over her own life.
Introduction to Paul Marshall
Introduction to Paul Marshall
- We are introduced to Paul Marshall.
- Marshall is mocked by Cecilia who finds him pompous and arrogant. But readers may also be unsettled by his behaviour.
- “He smiled, and since he had reached the gap first, he paused to hand her through… and as she passed she felt him touch her lightly on her forearm. Or it may have been a leaf” (p54).
Ambiguity about Paul's touch
Ambiguity about Paul's touch
- McEwan creates ambiguity from Cecilia’s uncertainty about whether Marshall has touched her or not.
- The suggestion that he may have deliberately touched her creates a slightly sinister aspect to his personality.
- This foreshadows Marshall’s later behaviour towards Lola.
- That McEwan chooses to end the chapter here only adds to its significance.
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
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