4.4.1

Pages 315-327: Key Events

Test yourself

Key Events in Pages 315-327: Lola & Marshall’s Wedding

On a Saturday morning off work, Briony travels to a church near to Clapham Common tube station where Paul Marshall and Lola Quincey are marrying in a private ceremony.

Illustrative background for Briony at the weddingIllustrative background for Briony at the wedding ?? "content

Briony at the wedding

  • Briony turns up to the wedding of Marshall and Lola and sits at the end of a pew at the back of the church.
  • At the sight of Lola and Marshall, Briony relives the events of the night Lola was sexually assaulted almost 5 years previously.
Illustrative background for Quotation: Briony's memoriesIllustrative background for Quotation: Briony's memories ?? "content

Quotation: Briony's memories

  • “She felt the memories, the needling details, like a rash, like dirt on her skin…” (p324).
Illustrative background for Briony's feelings at the weddingIllustrative background for Briony's feelings at the wedding ?? "content

Briony's feelings at the wedding

  • The “needling details” suggest Briony’s discomfort at the memory of her “crime” but the imagery of a “rash” and of “dirt” recalls Marshall’s attacks on Lola in Part One.
  • This, in turn, suggests Briony is also a victim of Marshall, amplified by Briony’s reference to her emotional “scratches and bruises” being long healed (p325).
  • The paragraph ends with the blunt statement that Lola was marrying her “rapist” (p324), revealing the true villain to the reader.

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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