3.5.1

Pages 234-246: Key Events

Test yourself

Key Events in Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal

The men walk by the last village on their route north. They come under attack from a Stuka plane. Robbie tries in vain to help a mother and child find safety.

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Detail of the Stuka attack

  • McEwan describes the Stuka attack in intense detail.
  • McEwan uses a range of sensory detail to capture the terror of the attack with a particular emphasis on aural (sound) imagery.
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Quotation: war as a crime

  • “Nightmares had become a science. Someone, a mere human, had taken the time to dream up this satanic howling” (p235-6).
  • Again, war is presented as a crime against humanity.
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Diabolical imagery

  • The use of diabolic imagery (“satanic”) helps to convey the human capacity for evil while the references to a “dream” and “nightmares” link to the terrors we experience in childhood.

Jump to other topics

1Introduction to Atonement

2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One

3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two

4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three

5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four

5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371

6Key Character Profiles

7Key Themes

8Writing Techniques

9Context

10Critical Debates

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