Robbie in Part One
English Lit: AQA A Level Atonement - Specification B, topic 6.2.2
Robbie Turner in Part One of Atonement
In Part One, Robbie has finished his studies in English Literature at Cambridge and has the blessing and financial backing of Jack Tallis to pursue medicine as a career.
Robbie's optimisim in Part One
- Robbie is full of optimism about life; on his way to the Tallis house for dinner he feels he has his whole life in front of him.
Relationship with Tallises & Cecilia
- Robbie is comfortable in his own skin, conscious of the class difference between himself and the Tallis family (his mother is their cleaning lady) but not resentful of or embarrassed by it.
- However, he is aware of a certain awkwardness between himself and Cecilia, despite their being childhood friends and studying in the same university. This new tension between them is shown in the scene by the fountain and its aftermath, where both struggle to interpret the confusion they feel.
Robbie's interactions with Cecilia
- Robbie is sexually stimulated by the memory of Cecilia’s undressing before stepping into the fountain which leads to him adding the obscene footnote to his note to her.
- The next time we see him and Cecilia together is when they are making love in the library. Briony sees this as an assault whereas, when the scene is focalized through Robbie’s perspective, the intensity of their passion for each other is described in intimate detail.
Robbie's heroic traits
- There are heroic aspects to Robbie’s character. We see glimpses of these in Part One.
- This is most notable when he returns home in the early morning with the runaway twins. Briony admits that her younger self was infatuated by him and clearly models her story of the “humble woodcutter” who saves a princess from drowning on herself and Robbie.
Briony's testing of Robbie
- Briony even tests Robbie out, deliberately falling into the pool so that Robbie is forced into the role of heroic rescuer.
- In Part Two, Robbie suspects that this incident may help explain the accusation she makes against him, although the older Briony dismisses this idea.
- However, readers may suspect that Briony is providing her readers with another idealised version of Robbie, particularly in Part Two of the novel.
Test yourself on Robbie in Part One
Which of these are true of Robbie in Part One?
What does Robbie do after the fountain scene?