Atonement: A Level York Notes

Robbie writes an apologetic note to Cecilia after snapping the vase, at the same time as realising his true feelings towards her. Read from ‘He had spent three years dryly studying the symptoms’ to ‘typed up a fair copy’ (pp. 84–5).

• WHY is it important? This section is the first to be filtered through Robbie’s perspective, and shows him as both an able reader and writer (and thus Briony’s counterpart).
• WHAT themes does it explore? Love, desire and sexuality are key here, but so too is the written word, its consequences and the importance of effective interpretation and communication.
• HOW does it work within the narrative? It is Robbie’s letter-writing here that provides the catalyst for everything that follows. It also brings an awareness of language use to the fore.
• WHAT language techniques does it employ? Central to this extract is Robbie’s references to literature and pastiche. His own thought process and actions are described matter-of-factly – e.g. ‘date and salutation’, ‘conventional apology’.

Cecilia’s first meeting with Robbie after the sending of his letter, and their transition from childhood friends to young lovers. Read from ‘She was moving further away’ to ‘and with myself’ (pp. 132–3).

• WHY is it important? The pivotal event of the novel, it presents the sexual awakening of the lovers. Briony’s and Cecilia’s perspectives of this scene are described elsewhere.
• WHAT themes does it explore? Love and sexuality are clearly at the forefront of this scene. The library setting serves to juxtapose fiction and bookishness with real-life and physical sexuality.
• HOW does it work within the narrative? Structurally, the episode (or at least its climax) has already been witnessed by Briony, so this passage represents a re-reading of the earlier account.
• WHAT language techniques does it employ? A strong focus on anatomy, befitting the characters’ growing sexual desire throughout the scene. Robbie is enthralled by Cecilia’s physicality: her ‘elbow’, ‘tongue’, ‘mouth’, ‘head’, ‘hands’, ‘nose’ and ‘fingers’.

Waiting for evacuation from Dunkirk, Robbie and Nettle spend the night in a bombed out cellar, the former sleeping fitfully and thinking of Cecilia. Read from ‘Arithmetic be damned’ to ‘another word from me’ (pp. 264–5).

• WHY is it important? A stream of consciousness which reveals the core of Robbie’s character, and the novel, it constitutes both Atonement’s clearest celebration of love, and its tragic centre.
• WHAT themes does it explore? The key theme here is love, as well as guilt (though positively, for neither Cecilia nor Robbie feel ashamed). Retrospectively, it is also tragic.
• HOW does it work within the narrative? This is in Part Two of the three act novel (so ‘the beginning of the end’). It is also the point where Briony’s narrative begins to diverge from historical fact.
• WHAT language techniques does it employ? The unconnected nature of Robbie’s thoughts here – the frequent repetition of phrases, ideas, and the connective ‘and’ – convey something of Robbie’s delirium.

In France, Robbie recalls how he and Cecilia made love ‘by post’ while he was in prison. She was, and is, his reason for survival. Read from ‘Cecilia wrote every week’ to ‘But he knew it’ (pp. 204–5).

• WHY is it important? This extract attests to the strength of the lovers’ affection, confirming them as sympathetic, tragic characters united by more than just sexual desire.
• WHAT themes does it explore? The extract explores love and desire, conflict (Cecilia versus her family), truth (Robbie’s false imprisonment) and writing (literature as code). It also evokes tragedy.
• HOW does it work within the narrative? This section fills in the gaps which we are left with following the end of Part One and the narrative’s relocation to France in 1940.
• WHAT language techniques does it employ? The extract contrasts cold, clinical language (‘morbidly over-sexed’) with their literary letters. There is also irony – many of the literary lovers referenced are tragic figures.

The narrative voice, revealed as an elderly Briony Tallis, reveals the true series of events and the liberties she has taken as an author. Read from ‘It is only in this last version’ to ‘The attempt is all’ (pp. 370–1).

• WHY is it important? The novel’s conclusion recasts our understanding of the narrative. It also constitutes Briony’s appeal for atonement, and her own judgement that she can never be acquitted.
• WHAT themes does it explore? This is the most explicit discussion of authorship, truth and the act of writing we find in Atonement, though they have been narrative concerns throughout.
• HOW does it work within the narrative? The extract is taken from the novel’s final few pages, a section which fundamentally alters our understanding of the preceding narrative. This device also allows Briony to directly address her reader.
• WHAT language techniques does it employ? The passage is marked by the many rhetorical questions Briony poses. Also, note the contrasting language used for the ‘real’ and ‘imagined’ versions of events.