6.5.1
Overview of Paul Marshall
Overview of Paul Marshall in Atonement
Overview of Paul Marshall in Atonement
Paul Marshall arrives at the Tallis household as Leon’s guest.
Marshall's family & wealth
Marshall's family & wealth
- Marshall belongs to a powerful family who have made their wealth through manufacturing. He is about to make his own fortune through the chocolate Amo bar he is beginning to market.
Presentation of Marshall
Presentation of Marshall
- Marshall is the novel's villain, although he remains a shadowy figure throughout. McEwan only briefly allows us to see events from his perspective and, as a result, we are forced to rely on the at times “unreliable” perspectives of others in order to make our own judgements of him.
- When we see him from Cecilia’s perspective, Marshall is a rather ridiculous figure. We are invited to laugh at the “pubic hair growing from his ears”.
Marshall's arrogance
Marshall's arrogance
- However, McEwan doesn't create much sympathy for Marshall: instead, he is presented as an arrogant and insensitive bore.
- Marshall dominates the conversation, launching into “a ten-minute monologue” (p49), and speaks with a condescending tone on “resentful” grammar-school types who begrudge him his wealth. Readers are likely to agree with Cecilia that, after all of the anticipation of his arrival with Leon, Paul Marshall is “unfathomably stupid”.
Sinister presentation of Marshall
Sinister presentation of Marshall
- But Marshall is also presented as a rather sinister character.
- The first hint of this is in the final sentence of Chapter 4 where Marshall perhaps (again, McEwan creates ambiguity) brushes Cecilia on the arm as she passes.
- In the following chapter, events are briefly focalized through Marshall's perspective. During that time, we see him wake from a dream involving his younger sisters in a state of sexual arousal; a particularly unsettling image.
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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