Pages 226-234: Key Themes
English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 3.4.2
Key Themes in Pages 226-234: Robbie’s Reflections
The narrative flits back to an event that took place three years before Part One. Robbie is suspicious about Briony's motives for accusing him.
Robbie's hope for "rebirth"
- We are again taken backwards in time.
- The last letter from Cecilia and its reference to Briony retracting her statement provides Robbie with the hope of “rebirth, a triumphant return” after which “the story could resume” from the moment when Robbie walked to the Tallis household and was so full of optimism. The reader is invited to imagine an alternative sequence of events in which Robbie and Cecilia are together.
Past incident with Briony
- The narrative then recalls an incident which happened when Briony was “about ten years old”, 3 years before the events described in Part One. Robbie theorises that Briony’s accusation against him may stem from this incident.
- At the end of this section, the mood is darker, with Robbie brooding on the “lasting damage” caused by Briony.
Robbie's "theory" on Briony
- Robbie’s “theory” of why Briony accuses him revolves around an incident in the past. While by a pool, Briony deliberately falls into the water so that Robbie must dive in and save her. After the rescue, she tells Robbie that she loves him but Robbie reacts furiously.
Robbie's suspicions about Briony
- Robbie suspects that “for three years she must have nurtured a feeling for him, kept it hidden, nourished it with fantasy…” (p233) and that, having seen him and Cecilia together in the library, treats this as a betrayal of Briony’s “love” for him, leading to her false accusation.
- Briony will later dismiss this incident as meaningless (p342) but we should be aware that the older Briony may be looking to manipulate our responses.
Briony's retelling of the pool
- It is perhaps significant that the details of the incident by the pool mirror the romantic story written by Briony in childhood about the “humble woodcutter” who saves the princess from drowning (p38).
- Briony’s falling into the pool helps to re-enact one of her stories/fantasies, an early example of her blurring the line between fiction and reality.
Test yourself on Pages 226-234: Key Themes
How does Briony respond to Robbie's "theory" about the pool incident?
What does Robbie brood on at the end of this section (p226-234)?