Pages 254-265: Key Events

English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 3.7.1

Key Events in Pages 254-265: To the Cellar

Robbie and Nettle, after a bizarre episode in which they chase a pig, succeed in getting some food and water.

Nettle takes Robbie, now in a delirious state, to the cellar of a bombed house where they will sleep until morning. Robbie drifts in and out of consciousness.
As Robbie lies in the cellar, his thoughts again turn to Cecilia.
In his delirium, Robbie again turns to literature to express his love for her.

“Oh when I was in love with you, Then I was clean and brave” (p262).
The lines Robbie quotes are from A.E. Houseman, a favourite poet of Robbie’s.
Robbie looks back to a previous self where he was “clean”, before the stain of guilt and still free from the squalor of prison and war. The reference to being “brave” recalls the moments of shame felt by Robbie throughout Part Two. Robbie looks back at a purer and more innocent self, defined by his love for Cecilia.