Atonement opens with at the Country Estate of the Tallis family. Cecilia has just arrived and is reunited with Robbie, the son of the Tallis family’s cleaning lady who lives with his mother in a nearby cottage. We learn that The Tallis' more or less adopted Robbie as a child and made sure he had a proper upbringing and education. He and Ceclia grew up together, and they are on the cusp of discovering that they are in love with each other. Briony--Cecilia's 13-year-old sister--is also in love with Robbie and is jealous of the developing relationship she sees between Robbie and Cecilia. After Briony discovers Robbie and Cecilia in the middle of a sexual encounter, she is enraged and jealous and tells a lie that sends Robbie to prison for years. We then believe that Robbie Cecilia have a brief time together after the war, but we then learn in section three of the novel that both Robbie and Cecilia were killed in 1940 during the war, so their time together was actually very brief.
https://newrepublic.com/article/63386/atonement-ian-mcewan-fiction
Robbie and Cecilia are faced with feeling romantic affection towards one another while navigating the societal demands of their time that frowned upon inter-class relationships. Robbie is a young man who belongs to the working class and is dedicated to improving his social and class position through education. Cecilia is a young woman of the upper crusts of society who is expected to marry within her class to a man of prestigious standing. A tension and low-level conflict exist between the two despite their affectionate feelings for each other that could be attributed to the social and class tension that are ever present between them. The possibilities of their love are never able to be explored as Robbie is sent away to prison (when he is falsely accused of sexual assault by Cecilia's younger sister), and then onto war, while Cecilia becomes a nurse during the war. Tragically, the two never see one another again.
The relationship between Robbie and Cecilia is a bit of a mystery since the whole novel is told from Briony's perspective. Briony is younger than her sister Cecilia and is not necessarily the most reliable source.
What we can assume about Robbie and Cecilia's relationship is that they are attracted to one another despite the socioeconomic barriers present. Robbie's family, including Robbie himself, works for Cecilia's wealthy family. He is a young working-class man, while Cecilia is a privileged daughter of an upper-class family. It is probable that a serious relationship between them, like a marriage, would be forbidden. Briony witnesses a scene between Robbie and Cecilia at the fountain of the Tallis family estate, and though she doesn't quite understand what she is seeing, it seems as though there is some underlying sexual tension between the characters. Later, Robbie gives Briony a note to deliver to Cecilia. He thinks he is giving Briony a note with an apology for breaking a valuable vase earlier that day, but actually, he hands her a note with a sexually explicit message that he wrote but did not intend to give to Cecilia. Briony's opinion of Robbie is sealed by this note, and she feels she must protect her sister from him. Later, when Lola is sexually assaulted in the dark on the estate grounds, Briony accuses Robbie. He is sent to jail and later goes to war. He and Cecilia never see each other again.
The relationship between Cecilia and Robbie is a tragic love story, one that never really properly started. It is likely that their difference in class status would have kept them apart anyway, but ultimately, it is Briony's accusation that severs the pair's budding romance forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment