Pages 287-315: Key Events
English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 4.3.1
Key Events in Pages 287-315: Briony Worries About Robbie
The first casualties from Dunkirk arrive at Briony’s hospital. After a difficult start, in which she worries that she is failing, she begins to grow more confident and is praised by Sister Drummond.
Briony's manuscript
- At the end of this section, Briony receives encouraging feedback from a publisher on her manuscript.
Briony's fears for Robbie
- Briony worries about Robbie being killed in France.
- Briony’s fear of Robbie not returning home is described as “her secret torment”.
Quotation: room without a door
- “To Briony, it appeared that her life was going to be lived in one room, without a door” (p288).
- The nightmarish image of a room without a door suggests Briony’s dread of being unable to escape from her past (“She longed to have someone else’s past” p288).
- The fear that Robbie won’t come back and that “the war might compound her crime” conveys a suffocating sense of guilt.
Test yourself on Pages 287-315: Key Events
What is described as Briony's “secret torment”?
What does Briony fear about war?