Johannes Walker

Leave Briony Alone

Many may think that Briony is a horrible person due to the fact that she played a key role in the accusation and criminal conviction of Robbie, driving away Cecilia which cleaves the family, and the apparent death of Robbie. I say apparent because later in Atonement, we learn that Briony wrote the book, and may have falsified everything from witnessing Robbie and Cecilia’s affair, to her latter encounter with them at Cecilia’s one-bedroom apartment. However, as bad as these offences may seem, when you consider the circumstances Briony was in, I do think she made the right choices to the best of her ability.

During Atonement Part 1, Briony reads the letter Robbie wrote for Cecilia and witnesses the events that transpired in the library’s corner and of Lola’s second rape. To an impressionable young thirteen-year old girl who has been told all her life that whatever she does is “stupendous” (McEwan 4), causes her to form the basis of her persona as a protector for Cecilia and Lola. After seeing Lola’s rape, Briony tries to be the like Cecilia by comforting Lola. She insists the rapist is Robbie due to Robbie and Cecilia’s library encounter, and Lola is about to express doubts saying, “But it doesn’t make sense. He’s such a close friend of your family. It might not have been him.” (McEwan 161), but is suppressed by Briony’s evidence of the library. Lola never expresses doubts about Robbie again. Although Briony was very adamant about what she saw, the adults, mainly the Inspector, are to blame for Robbie’s conviction. When the Inspector took Briony back to the scene of the crime McEwan points out by sayings “[...], the inspector was careful not to oppress the young girl with probing questions, and within this sensitively created space she was able to build and shape her narrative in her own words and establish the key facts: there was sufficient light for her to recognize a familiar face; when he shrank away from her and circled the clearing, his movements and height were familiar.” (McEwan 169). The Inspector allows Briony to fabricate Lola’s entire rape instead of asking Briony questions pertaining to fact, so he could get a proper idea of what happened. Ultimately it was not Briony’s fault that she, as an ignorant young  girl, caused suspicion to be placed on Robbie, which lead to his conviction; it was Lola’s and the law officials’ fault for not calling shenanigans on Briony’s recollection of the rape.

Also, in Atonement Part 3, Briony is confronted by her past when she witnesses the wedding between Lola and Paul Marshall, and decides not to speak out against it. McEwan says, “[...] the scratches and bruises were long healed, and all her own statements at the time were to the contrary. Nor did the bride appear to be the victim, and she had her parents’ consent.” (McEwan 306). Briony chooses not to interfere so she does not upset Lola or ruin her life, since she is happy with Paul Marshall. She shows restraint. Briony also attempts to atone for her grave error by becoming a nurse in order to try and take the place of Robbie, who is at war. During her time as a nurse, she encounters a wounded French soldier named Luc Cornet, who she comforts and loves until his death saying, “[...] for [in] that moment, she did. He was a lovely boy who was a long way from his family and he was about to die.” (McEwan 292). Briony was not obligated to console him, but did it for the benefit of Luc. I think this shows her change from an entitled little girl, to a caring woman, who tried to make a man feel at peace in his last dying minutes.

Response: @Alex "Ma' Boy" Dinning

I agree with Alex that young Briony has lost, or has never had, the ability to distinguish between the real world, and her simulation, that being her role as a protector for her Cecilia and Lola.

I also want to say that because of her upbringing, especially in a society where class is prominent and where it forms her social reality, she has formed her identity by influential persons,namely her mother and sister, telling her life telling her that whatever she does is "stupendous" (McEwan 4). This gives her false confidence which leads to her downfall when she realizes the metanarrative she has been fed fails, and that her actions have consequences that do not only affect her, but every single person around her.