Judd Andrews
THEO 215
Wojda
Atonement Essay 1
02/04/08
Briony’s Crime
"'Oh Lola.' Briony put out her hand to touch her cousin's face and found her
cheek. It was dry, but it wouldn't be, she knew it wouldn't be for long. 'Listen to me. I
couldn't mistake him. I've known him all my life. I saw him.' "'Because I couldn't say for
sure. I mean, I thought it might be him by his voice.' "'What did he say?' "'Nothing. I
mean, it was the sound of his voice, breathing, noises. But I couldn't see. I couldn't say
for sure.' "'Well I can. And I will.'" (pp. 157)
In McEwan’s novel Atonement
, Briony-
--
a
precocious yet naïve adolescent, curious about love, and more importantly here, sex-
--
is
faced with the dilemma of identifying her cousin’s attacker.
Having had two recent
experiences that shaped her view of Robbie as a nymphomaniac, when confronted with
the scene of her cousin being sexually assaulted, she convinced herself that Robbie was
the assailant.
As her quote above displays, she originally had reasonable doubt, but as the
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This note was uploaded on 04/07/2008 for the course THEO 215 taught by Professor Vojda during the Spring '08 term at St. Thomas.
- Spring '08
- Vojda
-
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