6.1.2
Briony in Part One
Briony Tallis in Part One of Atonement
Briony Tallis in Part One of Atonement
We first see Briony as the youngest child in the Tallis family. As a result, she is rather distant from the rest of her family, often escaping into fantasy worlds which she recreates through her gift for storytelling.
The Trials of Arabella
The Trials of Arabella
- Briony is a budding writer who, at the beginning of the novel, has just completed her first play, The Trials of Arabella.
- Significantly, this text has been written with a moral purpose in mind - to persuade her brother, Leon, to settle down and marry – just as the novel we are reading has a moral purpose – to atone for the crime against Robbie and Cecilia.
Briony's "controlling demon"
Briony's "controlling demon"
- Linked to Briony’s creative instincts is an urge to order the world around her.
- McEwan uses diabolic imagery to describe this impulse as her “controlling demon”. This hints at its destructive potential.
- We see this in an episode that both Briony and Robbie refer to – Briony deliberately falling into the pool and forcing Robbie to save her. In re-enacting the defining moment of one of her stories, Briony blurs the line between fiction and reality in a dangerous way, provoking Robbie's fury.
Briony's detachment from others
Briony's detachment from others
- At other times in Part One, we see Briony as coldly detached from the feelings of those around her.
- When the twins run away and are thought to be in danger, Briony thinks about how she might describe them in fiction if she was to discover them drowned in the pool.
Briony's life stage in Part One
Briony's life stage in Part One
- Briony is caught between childhood and adulthood. She is beginning to become aware of the complexities of the adult world but is still too young to interpret this world correctly – her misreading of the scene by the fountain is the first of several misinterpretations she makes which will result in tragedy.
Briony turns on Robbie
Briony turns on Robbie
- As a consequence of these misinterpretations, Briony turns against Robbie.
- She later admits to having had a brief, childish infatuation with Robbie but dismisses this as a possible motivation for her accusation against him.
- Robbie, however, is not so sure and develops a “theory” that it may lie at the root of Briony’s behaviour. Readers are left to decide for themselves what importance they attach to this.
"It was Robbie"
"It was Robbie"
- At the moment of crisis in the novel, you could argue that Briony ‘leads’ Lola into confirming Robbie’s guilt by dropping the tag question “wasn’t it?” to remove all possibility of doubt and simply declare, “It was Robbie.”
Briony's reflections on Part One
Briony's reflections on Part One
- In the final pages, Briony looks back at herself and sees a “busy, priggish, conceited little girl” (p367).
- In sticking to her story, Briony becomes the centre of adult attention, something she clearly enjoys. She feels “outrage” at Robbie’s heroic return with the twins the following morning, as if “cheated” (p184) of her place at the rightful centre of the drama. Again, the lack of consideration given to others' feelings in this part of the novel help to depict her as rather callous.
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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