Atonement

Question 1

Robbie - victim of

Answer 1

. Briony
. War
. Class (linked to exploitation in war and Briony)

Question 2

Robbie in part one

Answer 2

. associated with family but class outsider
. he does jobs for Tallis's - not an employee or friend, always on periphery
. Briony's class prejudice makes her incriminate him: stereotype working class son of single mother
. finds the twins: they survive and he doesn't
. chapter 8: Robbie's dreams - don't come true

Question 3

Robbie in part two

Answer 3

. hero: saves Briony in flashback, tries to save family
. B forces R into roles he doesn’t want: reluctant hero
. army was only escape from prison
. chaotic structure: no chapters, B can’t impose order
- also deterioration of R as he dies, delirium
. prison time skipped, B doesn’t look at what she’s responsible for

Question 4

Robbie in part three

Answer 4

. encounter w R + C - self flagellation for B
. makes R aggressive, angry - stereotype, makes her seem better bc she’s calm and collected
. imagines healing R + him forgiving her, makes his death reveal worse
. making him a threat vindicates her earlier perception of him as a maniac

Question 5

Robbie in epilogue

Answer 5

. dead, sections 2 and 3 revealed to be fiction
. romance winning - saves R + C in Briony’s mind
. traps herself in narrative whole life, can’t move on
. worse than if she’d just said he was dead
. reader betrayal

Question 6

Robbie - part 3 quotes

Answer 6

. “If Cecelia and Robbie were never together… Her secret torment”
. “her relief that Robbie was alive was supported by her dread of confronting him”
. “In the confined space he was desperate in his movements, as though suffocating”
. “he was angry, very angry”
. “I’m torn between breaking your stupid neck here and taking you outside and throwing you down the stairs”

Question 7

Robbie - part 1 quotes

Answer 7

. “could his first have gone to his head?”
. “father had subsidised Robbie’s education all his life”
. “removed his shoes and socks”
. “He thought of himself in 1962, at fifty”
. “A maniac” “He looked so huge and wild”
. “he would find a way to be with Cecelia again”
. “he had never hated anyone until now”
. “if she had resentments of her own, Emily sympathised. It was to be expected”
. “Who would believe her now, with Robbie posing as the kindly rescuer of lost children?”