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Blog Post 6

Briony grew up living in a home where everyone around her was much older and so she practically grew up as an only child. Briony at 13 spent much of her time writing, especially plays. She even planned to put the guests Lola, and her two younger brothers in the play and perform it for her family and friends. She was a stubborn girl who wanted everything to go her way. She also questioned a lot and tried to get an insight on the adult business going on around her. Her older sister Cecelia whom she was very close with had always been there for her and spent time with her when their parents were never around. One day Briony catches Cecelia and Robbie, a young man who works on the property and a good friend of the Tallis Family, by the fountain in front of the house. Watching through the window she starts to gain suspicions of Robbie and his intentions with her sister Cecelia. Briony believes that Robbie was proposing but that it didn’t seem to be the case when the two went their separate ways in a passive aggressive manner after meeting at the fountain. Briony again being her nosy self enters the library and finds Robbie on top of her sister leaving Briony, quite traumatized. Briony doesn’t understand the romantic relationship between her sister and Robbie, so she believes that he is harming her. Later that night when she is looking for the boys in the woods she finds Lola getting raped, but the rapist fleed before she got a chance to truly get a glance of his face. She was convinced that it was Robbie after taking her perspective on what happened between her sister and Robbie. She doesn’t have enough evidence and no facts to support what she believes, but she decides to blame the rape on Robbie anyways, making it the biggest mistake of her life and one that she will regret forever. “Briony wanted her to say his name. To seal the crime, frame it with the victim’s curse, close his fate with the magic of naming”(155). Briony again is still considered a child but the reasoning behind her blaming Robbie could be because she is jealous and upset that Robbie didn’t like her back, although he is very much older than her. Jealous that he liked her sister and not her. “That was a bloody stupid thing to do.”

“I wanted you to save me.” (217) This scene, when she starts to drown so Robbie could save her, happened in the past, one that Robbie looks too during the war. Realizing that Briony at some point in her life loved him and saw him as a great friend.

There are many reasons why she felt so strongly to blame Robbie but as she got older she realized that her sister and Robbie were truly in love and what happened in the library was not a rape, just two people in love. She had gotten in the way and it haunted her for the rest of her life. She felt so guilty she could not face her sister. Stubborn Briony was a girl who although seemed tough, feared the worst. She knows that Paul Marshall had raped Lola and not Robbie and she wanted to tell her sister everything but she never gained the courage and it became to late. Both Cecelia and Robbie died to soon, but Briony became a writer and her last novel was written over her stupid mistake at thirteen.  She even makes up a scene in her books about how she went and talked to her sister about the truth and how she was going to go home and tell parents everything. One scene in particular, “She hesitated, conscious that in answering she would be offering a from of defense, a rationale, and that it might enrage him further.

“Growing Up.”(323) She imagines talking to Robbie about the truth. Although it never happens Briony imagines it does in order to gain closure and in a way forgiveness. In her last novel she then creates a happy ending for Cecelia and Robbie, one that they never get to live out due to the war.

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Blog Post 6

Briony grew up living in a home where everyone around her was much older and so she practically grew up as an only child. Briony at 13 spent much of her time writing, especially plays. She even planned to put the guests Lola, and her two younger brothers in the play and perform it for her family and friends. She was a stubborn girl who wanted everything to go her way. She also questioned a lot and tried to get an insight on the adult business going on around her. Her older sister Cecelia whom she was very close with had always been there for her and spent time with her when their parents were never around. One day Briony catches Cecelia and Robbie, a young man who works on the property and a good friend of the Tallis Family, by the fountain in front of the house. Watching through the window she starts to gain suspicions of Robbie and his intentions with her sister Cecelia. Briony believes that Robbie was proposing but that it didn’t seem to be the case when the two went their separate ways in a passive aggressive manner after meeting at the fountain. Briony again being her nosy self enters the library and finds Robbie on top of her sister leaving Briony, quite traumatized. Briony doesn’t understand the romantic relationship between her sister and Robbie, so she believes that he is harming her. Later that night when she is looking for the boys in the woods she finds Lola getting raped, but the rapist fleed before she got a chance to truly get a glance of his face. She was convinced that it was Robbie after taking her perspective on what happened between her sister and Robbie. She doesn’t have enough evidence and no facts to support what she believes, but she decides to blame the rape on Robbie anyways, making it the biggest mistake of her life and one that she will regret forever. “Briony wanted her to say his name. To seal the crime, frame it with the victim’s curse, close his fate with the magic of naming”(155). Briony again is still considered a child but the reasoning behind her blaming Robbie could be because she is jealous and upset that Robbie didn’t like her back, although he is very much older than her. Jealous that he liked her sister and not her. “That was a bloody stupid thing to do.”

“I wanted you to save me.” (217) This scene, when she starts to drown so Robbie could save her, happened in the past, one that Robbie looks too during the war. Realizing that Briony at some point in her life loved him and saw him as a great friend.

There are many reasons why she felt so strongly to blame Robbie but as she got older she realized that her sister and Robbie were truly in love and what happened in the library was not a rape, just two people in love. She had gotten in the way and it haunted her for the rest of her life. She felt so guilty she could not face her sister. Stubborn Briony was a girl who although seemed tough, feared the worst. She knows that Paul Marshall had raped Lola and not Robbie and she wanted to tell her sister everything but she never gained the courage and it became to late. Both Cecelia and Robbie died to soon, but Briony became a writer and her last novel was written over her stupid mistake at thirteen.  She even makes up a scene in her books about how she went and talked to her sister about the truth and how she was going to go home and tell parents everything. One scene in particular, “She hesitated, conscious that in answering she would be offering a from of defense, a rationale, and that it might enrage him further.

“Growing Up.”(323) She imagines talking to Robbie about the truth. Although it never happens Briony imagines it does in order to gain closure and in a way forgiveness. In her last novel she then creates a happy ending for Cecelia and Robbie, one that they never get to live out due to the war.

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Blog Post 5

A conflict that occurs towards the middle to end of this novel is Briony's accusation of Robbie as a rapist without enough evidence to prove that he did commit the crime. Robbie and Cecelia move away from the home they grew up in and cut off from the home that they always knew. This completely changes the family dynamic. Although Briony and Cecilia’s parents were never around their cousins and those on their side of the family leave them behind and never think twice. Briony made a huge mistake that ended up sending Robbie to prison or the alternative of sending him off to war. Cecelia supports his decision of going off to war and she ends up going out and taking on the job as a nurse in order to be closer to him. This conflict is not something that is just seen years ago during World War 2 it is also seen in the present day war. 

Although it is a very small percentage, people have been accused of rape one to many times without enough evidence whether it be a man or a women. Of course rape is a very serious thing so it’s not normal for that mistake to happen but when it does it’s an awful thing that can lead to getting stuck in prison for a large chunk of someones life. Going way back before the time setting of the novel, those who were seen as less, maybe those who didn’t have a lot of money, were the ones to have been accused of such crime and were usually killed. It’s usually the accusation based off of what someones heard or seen and it’s unfair to the accused no matter the situation. In today's world that small percentage that is wrongfully accused don’t have much choice compared to Robbie who had the option of fighting in the war. 

Unfortunately for Robbie he did not make it to see freedom because he died during the war. This not only creates a tragic ending for the love story between Cecelia and Robbie but it also affects many other factors. It eventually impacts the relationship that Briony and Cecelia have. Briony went ahead and made assumptions before having enough information. She became way too protective over her older sister and ruined the relationship they had. Cecelia is a nurse who has now lost her lover to the war and although her home with her mother and father may feel secure she is ready to start a new life away from home.  With the death of Robbie, new memories and a new life ahead of her. This happened to those in the past before her and those in the present. This whole falling out of Robbie being accused of being a rapist is what gets him out there killed and although he will be forever honored by Cecelia the rest of the world sees him as the unknown rapist that he truly never was. Cecelia, she needs to start from scratch and get past the mourns and sorrow, although she never reaches a life either because she sadly passes away due to the war as well. 

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AP Lit Blog Post 4

A character who I empathize with is Cecelia. She is neglected by her mother and her father is rarely ever around. Her brother has run off and started a life away from home and her younger sister is very young in age compared to her. Cecelia feels lonely and doesn’t know how to address it. Towards the beginning of the novel she feels the only reason she has still resided on her family property was for her younger sister, Briony. Cecelia also has someone else on the property whom she has always been family friends with but had never grown up to be a truly great set of friends. She is a confused girl in her early twenties and doesn’t have enough guidance in her life. She wants to start her own life but doesn’t feel fully comfortable going out on her own. She has been stuck in her own world for a long time where she has had liberty in her own home. She smokes a cigarette even when her father is not around, something that was not normal for a woman in the early 1900s.

Cecelia wants a greater purpose; she wants to do something with her life but she has a lot going on at home. She has no idea who will support her if she leaves home and she knows that if she stays she will continue to have the security a woman is in need of, during this specific time period. I think that many of her actions may seem silly to the reader but in reality many of her decisions are based on her past experiences and how she handles the worrying world around her. She is a young girl with an education living in a society where girls like her were not yet accepted to share their ideas as well as having a true purpose other than staying at home and raising a family. 

Her relationship with Robbie begins to unravel as she realizes she has a deep fond feeling for him and vice versa. She is experiencing a confusion that is very normal but doesn’t know how to go about with the right actions. Along with Briony, Cecelia has very strong emotions and a mind of expressing what she feels and letting people know what's important to her. Her mother who is always filled with migraines barely pays attention to her compared to her younger sister Briony. She doesn’t get as much attention, but she doesn’t mind it much, she just wants to be appreciated. The appreciation she gets is all coming from Robbie, who at first makes it seem as if he is not into her but later on, the reader realizes this romantic tension that evolves over time between the two. Cecelia falls in love with Robbie and realizes that the reason she’s holding back from moving on from her childhood home is not just her sister but in fact Robbie. The book also takes place in World War 2 when many men are being sent off to fight in the war. Later on in the novel she learns that Robbie must go and fight, so with her loved one leaving her, she decides to take a role as a nurse. 

To end this blog, Cecelia is a character just like any other character in any novel that a reader can empathize with. She has so much going on in the environment around her, in a way, coming of age where she realizes that she can’t stick around her childhood home forever and she needs to move on. Although the novel shifts from her and her younger sister, the reader knows that Cecelia is starting a brand new life, what in the present world we now see in newly graduated college students. When someone starts a life on their own and experiences new feelings they never have before there are exceptions for their actions. In this case that is all impacted within Cecelia’s character.

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AP Lit Blog 3

The fountain scene is an unravelling of the relationship between Cecilia and Robbie. It is very significant as it decides what comes next in the novel. Cecilia and Robbie grew up together as Robbie’s family worked for the Tallis’. Cecilia’s father paid for Robbie’s studies and so they both ended up attending the same schools. Although childhood friends they grew apart until this particular point in the storyline. Cecilia is contemplating whether or not she should leave her family and continue her life somewhere else. She believes the only thing keeping her at home with her family is her sister Briony. Unfortunately her mom doesn’t pay much attention to her and their father is rarely around. Since she has finished school she believes that she should at least say goodbye to Robbie before she makes the decision to leave home for good.. 

Both Cecilia and Robbie are awkward towards one another because they haven't interacted enough with each other to call themselves friends but they are also considered to have that sibling relationship. At the fountain Cecilia has gone to fill up a vase with water for her mother when she finds herself arguing with Robbie. The vase is important to the father of the Tallis family because it honors the Tallis’ from the past. As they argue a piece of the vase breaks and falls into the fountain. Cecilia then takes her clothes off and dives into the fountain with just her underwear on. She is quite disturbed and very upset with Robbie so once she gets out with the piece she walks away without saying anything else to him. She is so annoyed that she doesn’t even want to see him anymore. Robbie is regretting what happened but in a way he is confused. Unwrapping what is going on, the reader can infer that there is not enough communication between the two characters. I think that both of the characters have feelings for each other but don't know how to express them, later on in the novel, events of a more meaningful relationship will unravel. 

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AP Lit Blog 2

In the first few pages of the novel the reader learns about Briony Tallis’ passion of using her imagination and experiences in life to write plays. Briony grew up as an only child in the Tallis household as her sister was ten years older and her brother 12 years older. She uses her imagination to have fun and when she hears that Leon is coming into town she wants to welcome him back with one of her plays. The Tallis family also takes in Briony’s cousins, Lola, Pierrot and Jackson. Briony is automatically casting them into her play at their arrival. These first few chapters let the reader know how lonely this young girl must be in order to be so keen on having unknown cousins in her play. She is bold with her ideas, and at the age of thirteen being a girl in that time period it was not normal for a girl to speak her mind in that way. Her play is about romance as Arabella the main character in her play falls ill, splits with her past lover and falls in love with a successful doctor who then helps her regain her health and they eventually get married. This story is coming from a thirteen year old girl, one who is very observant of her high status family and what is going on in the lives of those around her. Briony is curious and as her young life hides no secrets or anything fun she takes her time to be with others and puts her imagination to the test. Briony is wise and wants the best for those around her even when she doesn’t fully understand the adult interactions that go on without her. Briony investigates the lives of others and not only that but also likes to be in control of what is going on. Briony is someone who is creative and when things don’t go her way or she doesn’t understand the full story she continues to pursue her ideas even when they may be wrong. For instance, she observes the fountain scene of her sister and Robbie without knowing the full story behind it. The truth of course lies in the chapter where the reader learns what happens through the perspective of Cecilia but, through Briony we just learn from an observant lens. The observant lens sees the outside of the reality of the situation. Briony believes that Robbie is proposing to Cecilia and asking for her hand in marriage when in fact they just have a romantic tension that has not been talked about or expressed yet before. Briony even after watching her sister dive into the fountain for the vase doesn’t fully grasp what happened but she feels in control by making her own ideas in her head. She doesn’t have the best family connection that she would if she were older. Her mom is always full of migraines and her sister and brother are much older. As well as her father being away in his travels she makes the best of what she can. She likes to dance with her own thoughts and put them into action through writing and plays.

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Blog Post 1

Blog Post 1, Critical Analysis of Atonement:

Hi, welcome to my first blog on Atonement Blogs. This blog will discuss how The Atonement novel is structured and how the author uses different literary techniques to tell a story. I read a critical essay on how Ian McEwan the author of Atonement incorporated “the techniques of Mrs. Wolf”. The writer of the essay Barbra Apstein, wrote about different literary techniques and its significance in the novel. Mrs. Wolf’s writing style is described as being a great fiction way to develop a characters storyline, adding in specific details and using figurative language so the reader can develop a vivid image of what she is attempting to describe. 

Atonement is narrated by 13 year old Briony who is still very young and doesn’t understand the world around her nor adult interactions quite yet. One scene in particular is the fountain scene where the reader learns more about a relationship between to characters in the novel, Cecelia and Robbie. Through the narration of a young girl the author Ian McEwan is able to incorporate a fictional portrayal of a romantic relationship where the reader is always trying to understand and figure out what comes next. The reader feels at the edge of their seat in this novel where Ian McEwan throws anything at the reader and than builds on it, really expanding ones imagination. 

To end with this beginning blog I would like to add, the novel  incorporates detail to everything and uses phrases that are difficult to understand and yet it make it more interesting to read. With the hidden mysteries that Ian McEwan hides in his work relating back to the critical analysis essay by Apstein on Mrs. Wolf.