Atonement

Briony lives in London and trains as a nurse during the early days of World War II. Sister Marjorie Drummond is her authoritarian instructor, and she causes “constant and pervasive anxiety” (163) in most of the trainees. Briony believes that Sister Drummond is too preoccupied to truly punish any of the trainee nurses, including her “loud and jolly” friend Fiona (165). Briony decision to turn down her offer to attend Cambridge and instead move to London and become a nurse still perplexes her. Briony is happy with her decision as it keeps her thoughts occupied, but she is not sure of her motivation. She maintains some distance between herself and her mother as she craves independence and does not want her mother to know about the “lowly work” she does (168). Her mother writes to her about life on the estate, including the evacuated children who are temporarily housed there. After submitting a short story to a magazine, she heard no response and has paused her fiction writing; now, she mostly writes in her journal. Her letters to Cecilia are one-sided. Day-to-day life in the hospital keeps Briony occupied, and she understands that the British defeat in France is causing a great deal of “muted dread” (171) and anxiety among the staff.

Briony’s father writes to her, mentioning that Paul Marshall has proposed to Lola. They will be married soon. Briony wonders why her father would mention this. She believes that he now shares her suspicion that Paul, rather than Robbie, was the man who raped Lola. The news makes Briony feel even more guilty, as she feels “more than implicated in this union” (172), which she knows is made out of necessity, rather than love. The marriage adds another layer to Briony’s guilt: Not only is she guilty of ruining Robbie’s life, she is but also guilty of ruining Lola’s happiness. She fears that she will never be able to atone for what she has done. Briony tries to speak to her father on the telephone to confirm her suspicions, but she cannot reach him. On a free afternoon, Briony watches a band play in the park with her friend Fiona. Despite the occasion, Briony’s thoughts drift to Robbie. She hopes that he has survived, as all the news from France seems terrible. In her mind, her guilt and shame mix with her anxieties about the war. Fiona’s encouragement for Briony to be social pulls Briony back to the present. As they return to the hospital, however, “scores” (175) of ambulances arrive, carrying wounded men from France. The trainee nurses scramble into action. Briony tries to help where she can, but each time she approaches a wounded man, she wonders if it might be Robbie. She wonders whether Robbie would forgive her if she saved his life and treated his wounds.

The seemingly never-ending arrival of wounded soldiers overwhelms Briony. She removes shrapnel from a man’s leg and bandages the wounds of a man whose face is obliterated. Sister Drummond approaches her, asking whether she speaks “a bit of French” (183). Briony still remembers the French she learned at school and agrees to sit with a fatally wounded soldier named Luc Cornet. As he lays dying, Luc mistakes Briony for his girlfriend. He sinks into a fever, finally asking Briony whether she loves him. Briony assures the dying man that she loves him because “no other reply [is] possible” (186), and in that moment, she does. After leaving the hospital, Briony finds a letter from the literary magazine. Her story “Two Figures by a Fountain” will not be published as it is the wrong format, but they encourage her to continue writing and provide feedback. Briony’s story is autobiographical, describing the scene between Robbie and Cecilia at the fountain, as witnessed by “the child at the window” (188).

Briony begins to worry that the war is unwinnable, resulting in “the destruction of everything decent” (190), including her previous way of life. She arranges to take a Saturday afternoon off and attends the wedding of Lola and Paul Marshall. She stands at the back of the church. When the vicar asks whether anyone present knows a reason why the couple should not be married, Briony feels that she has a moment to redeem herself for sending “an innocent man to jail” (195). However, she says nothing. She stands silently as the couple are married and, as they leave the church, she makes eye contact with Lola. Briony watches Lola flash “a tiny frown of displeasure” (196) and then turn away.

After the wedding, Briony visits Cecilia. The unexpected visit surprises Cecilia, who invites Briony inside with a “hardness in her tone” (199). Briony awkwardly shares news about the family, but Cecilia has already heard it. Cecilia mentions that she has contacted a lawyer with the hope of clearing Robbie’s name, but she does not believe that they will be successful. Briony realizes that Cecilia believes that Danny Hardman was Lola’s rapist. Robbie’s arrival interrupts their conversation: he is on leave from the army and decided to visit Cecilia. Despite Briony’s relief that he is alive, her presence makes him “very angry” (205). Briony tries to explain that she has grown up and realizes that she made a mistake. Robbie, overwhelmed by his suffering in prison and during the war, launches into a rage, but Cecilia manages to calm him.

After Robbie regains his composure, Cecilia tells Briony what she will do: Briony will tell their parents the truth about Robbie, then they will talk to a lawyer and take legal statements recanting her testimony. Briony will then write a letter to Robbie outlining her motivations for lying. Briony explains to them that Paul, rather than Danny Hardman, is the real rapist. The news devastates Cecilia and Robbie. They know that, as Paul’s wife, Lola will never be able to legally accuse Paul of being her rapist, so Paul is “immune” (209) from prosecution. Briony apologizes to Robbie and then leaves. She exits their apartment, looking back at the couple together as they walk with her to the station. She is relieved that neither her actions nor the war have destroyed their love. She plans the revisions to her story, reworking it so that it becomes “an atonement” (210). Briony signs her initials at the end of Part 3.