Atonement Part 3

So after reading a hundred or so pages from Robbie's perspective, we are back in the mind of Briony. It is now five years after the incident and she is training as a nurse at a hospital in London. She realizes that they are clearing out the hospital for the wounded that will soon start pouring in due to the Germans advancing. She also knows that the bombing of London will soon start. As a trainee her day is a strict schedule and her identity is nothing more than Nurse Tallis. She sent in a story inspired by the scene at the fountain changing some of the details and giving no resolution. her life changes some when the wounded begin to roll in. She sits by the deathbed of a young Frenchman and he confuses her with an English girl he was to marry. Before he dies he asks her if she loves him and she says yes, because at that moment she does. She learns from her father that Paul Marshall and Lola are going to be married. This fact confirms within her that it was Paul and not Robbie that she saw attacking Lola. She attends the wedding which is a private ceremony then proceeds to visit Cecilia. In a tense meeting between Briony and Cecilia and Robbie who is visiting on leave it is established that they won't forgive her, but they will allow her to start the legal process of changing her testimony even though it won't matter due to Paul and Lola's marriage.
The last section is written in 1999 and is written in first person from Birony's view. It reads that the previous sections are the final drafts of her "atonement" she has been working on for 59 years. She has just been diagnosed with vascular dementia and knows she is about to begin to lose her mind. She sees the Marshalls and knows that Lola at least will outlive her and her publishers say that her book can't be published until both the Marshalls are dead. It is also revealed that Briony's visit to Cecilia was completely fiction in Briony's account. Robbie died in June of 1940 due to septicemia and Cecilia died in the bombing the following September. They were never reunited. However, Briony asked what good the pointless truth would have done for her readers. Since the lowers could not be together in real life, at least Briony could allow them to be together in her novel.
This books leaves you with so many feelings. I enjoyed the their part more than I thought I would. No I didn't come to like Briony, but I don't despise her as I once did. I like how the last paragraph or two went back to questions about the "writer" and their power that hadn't been addressed since part one. That seemed to reinforce the news that it all was written by Briony. While part two definitely held the gore of war, part three was far from sunshine. The scene with Briony and her friend coming back from the park was moving. The way that Briony thinks about how Robbie will never know what she had seen was an excellent point. Now, however, after knowing that that never really happened that scene comes under a whole new light. It was strictly created to induce a certain feeling and reaction. By editing and changing it Briony was playing God. How can atonement be reached if one can alter their ending? This is where the separation of fact and fiction comes in. That is what started the entire conflict in itself. It is ironic that Briony "solves" the conflict by creating her own scene, a habit that started the entire mess. I liked the scene between Briony and and the Frenchman Luc, but after the revelation at the end I wonder, was it true, or did she present it falsely. Then I think, wait, the entire book was fiction. McEwan did an amazing job of having the reader experience some of what Briony feels, the confusion of what is true and what is make believe. I liked that it let us know that Briony had gotten married. Having Briony's play put on at the end was sweet. As I said before I have many feelings about this book. I want to say wow I love it, but then I'm like no it was depressing. McEwan is definitely a very talented author and it was amazingly written.

Atonement Part 2

Robbie was separated from his unit in their retreat out of France and is working his way toward Dunkirk. He was joined by Corporal Nettles and Corporal Mace who even though they outrank him, still follow his lead and suggestions. Robbie was in prison for six years. He and Cecilia communicated through letters during that time, yet these were censored by his psychiatrist. Cecilia severed all contact with her family and went to nursing school. When Robbie was released he and Cecilia were able to meet once in public before he had to report to basic training. The meeting was awkward until the end when they kiss and remember they live for the one purpose of being together. They were suppose to have two weeks together after his basic training but the beginnig of the war changed all that. The kept in contact and Cecilia's constant message of"I'll wait for you. Come back." is Robbie's will to live. She also said that she had contacted her family and Briony was feeling she was mistaken and might want to legally change her testimony. On their trek toward Dunkirk, Robbie sees the leg of a young boy in a tree and it haunts him. He and the corporals avoid the roads as long as possible and then join the multitudes of people on the road out of the country. They are bombed on and a woman and child Robbie tries to save are killed. When they finally arrive where the boats are leaving Robbie has a moment that he forgets why he must survive and feels he must rush back and save the boy's leg. Robbie feels it won't matter if Briony changes her testimony since war makes all guilty. However Corporal Nettles calms him down and he remembers he must live. He must "come back" to Cecilia.
This section was written much differently from the first one. It was almost boring to be limited to Robbie's perspective after moving between three in the previous section. This definitely was the "boyly" section with all the war and violence. I didn't know that Robbie and Cecilia were going to be able to communicate while he was in prison so that was a pleasant surprise. I don't know why I was assuming they weren't going to be able to contact each other. I liked how theirmeeting was awkward. That made it more realistic. Now kissing at the bus stop seemed kind of cheesy in my head, but I was picturing it at a train station which would make it more cheesy. The war setting really works. You really learn more about Robbie even after having the in depth chapter on him in section one. The reader can see a lot in Robbie's character from the way the corporals respect him. By learning about their civilian jobs you can infer a lot more about the corporals. Their lower education might account for the fact that they seem less effected than Robbie. Or it might just be that the reader isn't inside their mind like he/her is in Robbie's. Their helping the man that was being beaten up shows them as different from many of the other men. Maybe this developed from their time with Robbie. I'm getting too far off topic. The main center of this section was Robbie of course. However, you are left to contemplate about the changes that have taken place in Briony's life. By mentioning that she is willing to change her story, but not giving details builds suspense. The "war makes all guilty" is an interesting concept. When Robbie considers going staying and going back to all the death and horror he has seen, you see the torture he has gone through. You see the strength of their love by his remembering that she is the reason he must survive and escape.

Atonement Part 1

So I would much rather keep reading the book, than stopping to do this assignment. Just saying...
Briony Tallis is writing a play for her cousins, Lola and the twins, Jack and Peirrot, to perform in when they come to stay with the Tallis's due to domestic issues. The play is for Briony's brother Leon who is coming home and bringing a friend, Paul Marshall. Rehearsals for the play fall through. The day Leon is to arrive Briony witnesses her sister Cecilia take off her clothes and retrieve a piece of a broken vase from a fountain in front of their housekeeper's son, Robbie. Cecilia and Robbie's relationship has been tense for years, but Robbie realizes he loves her. He writes two versions of a letter and has the wrong one sent to her by Briony. Briony reads the letter before delivering it and feels that Robbie is a "maniac." The letter, however, causes Cecilia to realize her love for Robbie. Before the dinner that night, of which Robbie was invited to, he and Cecilia make love in the library. Their time together is interrupted by Briony who believes Robbie was assaulting her sister. After a tense dinner it is discovered that the twins have run away. Everyone goes out searching. Briony comes on Lola who has just been attacked and sees a male figure leaving, making her feel certain it was Robbie. She turns him in and steals Cecilia's letter to prove he is crazy. Robbie is arrested and taken away. Cecilia and Robbie's mother are the only ones to express any doubt in his guilt.
Let me just say here that I read Vanessa's summary before I did mine so it was stuck in my head and they sound similar. However, I promise I actually read the book.
I love how McEwan writes. The way he uses the different views definitely adds suspense. I love the way he doesn't write in a straight timeline, but overlaps the time from different characters' perspectives. Briony's character is extremely interesting. The way McEwan looks at the concept of the writer hacing complete control is very interesting. I loved the part when Briony was thinking about the connection between her mind and her finger. Of course I had to put my book down and move my finger up and down at that part. I relate with Lola and Briony's relationship in that I have had older cousins that felt necessary to remind me they were older than me and therefore more mature. I have probably been guilty of it myself. I think this connection is important in seeing Briony's reasoning. At the moment she found Lola she was the mature one with all the answers. She held the upper hand and took her opportunity at responsibility. Paul Marshall is the bad guy, right? Lola's burns and scartch came fron him when he was with her in the nursery and he attacked her. That's my theory anyway. Now there is the question of Cecilia's and Robbie's "love." Is it real? Is it simply a need they share to do something different and unpredictable? When Robbie is writing the letter it does seem genuine. However maybe I am old fashion but I see love as something deeper than just wanting to have sex with each other. By writing from the different perspectives McEwan introduces all the variables that led to Briony's "crime." If only Robbie had sent the right letter. If only Briony hadn't witnessed the scene by the fountain. If Briony hadn't been sitting on the bridge Robbie coun'dt have given her the letter. If only the twins hadn't ran away. If only Briony had went into her mom instead of going to the island temple. I could go on and on. It's very frustrating.