Chapter 7: Key Themes
English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 2.7.2
Key Themes in Chapter 7
The island temple is the focus of Chapter 7.
Briony's perspective
- After a description and history of the island temple, the chapter is again told from Briony’s perspective.
Shifting back in time
- McEwan breaks the chronology of events to shift back in time to Leon and Marshall’s entrance.
Setting: the island temple
- The island temple built in the lake has fallen into a state of disrepair having been neglected by the Tallis family and its faded grandeur is symbolic of the family’s steady decline in status.
Personification of the temple
- Personification is used to describe the temple as “the orphan of a grand society lady… with no one to care for it, no one to look up to” amplifying the theme of the absent parent.
- It is also described as having “grown old before its time, and let itself go” which can be read as being symbolic of Lola, or Briony, after the climactic event in Part One. It is significant that the island temple will be the setting for the crime which is approaching.
Test yourself on Chapter 7: Key Themes
Complete the quotation describing the island temple in Chapter 7.
What does the narrative in Chapter 7 shift back to?