Emily Tallis' Character

Q: Emily Tallis' Ignorance & Unhappiness in *Atonement*

In Chapter 6, Emily imagines herself as possessing a **“sixth sense”** which makes her **“all-knowing”** about the comings and goings in the household: **“She lay in the dark and knew everything”** (p66).

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Emily Tallis' Ignorance & Unhappiness in Atonement

In Chapter 6, Emily imagines herself as possessing a “sixth sense” which makes her “all-knowing” about the comings and goings in the household: “She lay in the dark and knew everything” (p66).

Emily's ignorance & misjudgement

However, McEwan reveals to us what she doesn’t know: she has no idea of the emerging relationship between Robbie and Cecilia, and she badly misjudges the character of Paul Marshall, speculating that he “may not be such a bad sort” (p67).
Emily misreads the squeal of laughter she overhears from the library: like Briony, she is prone to misinterpret the world around her, with tragic consequences.

Emily's mournfulness

Emily is a very self-absorbed character. She is mournful at the passing of Briony’s childhood and the realisation that she will have no more children.
There is a melancholy tone to her memories of youth as well as a lingering bitterness towards her sister, Hermione (the Quincey children’s mother).

Emily's unhappiness

We get the impression she's an unhappy woman who feels that her best years have been wasted.
Emily sums up her life in the phrase, “Wronged child, wronged wife” (p148), which illustrates a key idea in the novel – how one’s childhood affects one’s later life.

Emily Tallis' Conservatism & Snobbery in Atonement

Emily is a socially conservative and snobbish woman.

Emily's conservative attitude

Perhaps typical of her class, Emily is a socially conservative woman who disapproves of Cecilia’s studies at Cambridge, instead thinking that she should be concentrating on finding “a husband” and preparing for “motherhood” (p65).
She doesn't appear to consider that her own unhappy life is a result of her own restrictive attitudes concerning women’s place in society or that Cecilia and Briony may be able to find self-fulfilment through education or even a career.

Emily's snobbery

Emily’s snobbishness is another unappealing trait.
We learn that she considers the police inspectors to be beneath her (Briony notes that she treats the policemen “as menials” p178) and many readers may suspect that her willingness to go along with the accusation against Robbie may at least be partly motivated by a disdain for the lower classes.

Emily's atttiude to Robbie

Robbie recalls that Emily “pursued his prosecution with a strange ferocity” (p227) and we learn in Chapter 12 that she has always dismissed her husband’s role in Robbie’s education as a mere “hobby” (p151).

Emily's irresponsiblity

Emily is also depicted as being irresponsible, particularly in her role as temporary guardian over the Quincey children.
She is another example of an absent (perhaps absent-minded?) parent in the novel.
Although she should be calling the police to inform them that the twins are missing, she instead becomes side-tracked by her irritation with Lola, whose attention-seeking behaviour has reminded Emily of Lola’s mother, Hermione.

Emily's failure as a guardian

Rather than look after the children that have been placed in her care, she lapses into self-pity and feelings of resentment.
Emily’s failure to discharge her duty of care to the twins is emphasised by the speed with which her husband realises that he must call the police.