During her final speech, Briony was trying to convince the audience that she gave Cecilia and Robbie back their happiness. Young Briony would often pride herself for doing the right thing. As a 13-year-old, Briony naively believes that she understands love and virtue and can flawlessly interpret her … It all goes back to Briony making everything about herself. No man shouldn’t be looking at an underage girl like that. Or is it? As Briony explains her reasons to write to book, she also reveals that her encounter with Cecilia was completely fictional. Robbie is a studious young man, and Jack Tallis sees so much potential in him that he agrees to pay for his education to become a doctor. Although she only 15 years old, she attracts the attention of the much older Paul Marshall, who attacks and rapes her. She was confirmed again in her view that evil was complicated and misleading. The narration fast-forwards to describe what happens when. Although, the World War II background theme is present throughout all the film, Atonement is not about war. She played her with ambiguous undertones, which only goes to show the great actress that she already was back then. Atonement is about regret and how a simple lie can change one’s fate. However, part of her hatred towards Robbie also stemmed from rejection. Therefore, Briony decided to reunite the couple in her book as a way to compensate for the happiness that she robbed them when they were alive. For instance, when young Briony had a crush on Robbie, she thought the young man should be nice to her too, which he was. The scene by the fountain, its air of ugly threat, and at the end, when both had gone their separate ways, the luminous absence shimmering above the wetness on the gravel – all this would have to be reconsidered. But still—it's worth a try, right? It's not just other people's pee that puts Briony off, though—it's other people's thoughts as well. By telling us that the clean ending isn't real, Briony makes a bit of a mess. ...sedated and is now able to sleep. It's more unfixable than an old chocolate stain on your favorite white tee shirt. I like to think that it isn’t weakness or evasion, but a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them at the end. That said, is it fair for Briony to never get a pardon from Robbie or Cecilia? At this point, her “truths” hold very little value. At various points throughout the novel, McEwan filters the narrative through a particular character’s point of view. • Briony Tallis – The younger sister of Leon and Cecilia Tallis, Briony is an aspiring writer. Unable to hold her curiosity, Briony decides to open the letter and read it, before delivering it to her sister. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. Ironic isn’t it? After the incident, the girls talk and Briony convinces herself that Robbie was the man behind Lola’s assault. The very complexity of her feelings confirmed Briony in her view that she was entering an arena of adult emotion and dissembling from which her writing was bound to benefit. At the end of the novel, Briony has realised her wrongdoing as a "child" and decides to write the novel to find atonement. Section 2, - These mistakes lead to his being accused of raping Lola. So, in order to divert attention, Paul and Lola needed a scapegoat: Robbie. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. As an apology, Robbie writes a note to Cecilia and asks Briony to deliver it to her sister. "Atonement Study Guide." Throughout the film, it’s clear that Briony tries to make amends with the past. Directed by Joe Wright, the 2007 drama is based on Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel of the same name. Learn all about how the characters in Atonement such as Briony Tallis and Cecilia Tallis contribute to the story and how they fit … Later on, she makes a very crucial decision. After the scolding, Robbie just turned into this “evil man” who rejected and humiliated her. Bearing witness to a sequence of events between her older sister and the son of their charlady, Briony misinterprets the motives and intentions of adult behavior. …was everyone else really as alive as she was? Another instance that confirms Briony’s bias is Lola’s assault.