Justice and Punishment in Atonement

Question 1

Briony is punished by her own guilt (6)

Answer 1

‘How guilt refined the methods of self-torture, threading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime’ p173

‘She would never be able to console herself that she was pressured or bullied. She never was.’ P170

‘She trapped herself, she marched into the labrynth of her own construction, and was too young, too awestruck, too keen to please, to insist on making her own way back’ p170

‘She would never undo the damage. She was unforgivable.’ P285

‘Did she think she could… drown her guilt in a stream – three streams – of consciousness?’ p320

‘Secret torment’

Question 2

Briony is punished by her own guilt (6)

Answer 2

‘How guilt refined the methods of self-torture, threading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime’ p173

‘She would never be able to console herself that she was pressured or bullied. She never was.’ P170

‘She trapped herself, she marched into the labrynth of her own construction, and was too young, too awestruck, too keen to please, to insist on making her own way back’ p170

‘She would never undo the damage. She was unforgivable.’ P285

‘Did she think she could… drown her guilt in a stream – three streams – of consciousness?’ p320

‘Secret torment’

Question 3

Briony’s self-punishment is shown by her confrontation with Robbie and Cecilia (2)

Answer 3

‘I’m torn between breaking your stupid neck here and… throwing you down the stairs.’ Robbie p341

‘She had thought about this conversation many times, like a child anticipating a beating. Now it was happening at last… She knew his words would hurt her later’ p341

Question 4

Briony punishes herself with her book. She presents herself poorly to make us hate her, and her deception makes us feel betrayed, purposefully, as we dislike her even more (4)

Answer 4

‘The truth had become as ghostly as invention’ p41

BT
London 1999 pg. 349

‘I merged them in my description to concentrate all my experiences into one place. A convenient distortion, and the least of my offences against veracity.’ pg. 356

‘There was our crime – Lola’s, Marshall’s, mine.’ P369

Question 5

Briony is punished with dementia (5)

Answer 5

‘I thought of those sad inmates of Bedlam who were once a source of general entertainment, and I reflected in a self-pitying way on how I was soon to join their ranks’ p354

‘My brain, my mind, is closing down.’ P354

‘Perhaps I am nothing more than a victim of modern diagnostics’ p355

‘on hands and knees, and crawl our way towards the truth’

‘I experienced for the first time something like desperation…. Claustrophobia was part of it, helpless confinement within a process of decay, and a sensation of shrinking.’ p362

Question 6

Briony punishes herself as a nurse (7)

Answer 6

‘Hung like exotic fruits’ p295

‘A memory came to her from childhood, of seeing at an afternoon birthday party the famous tablecloth trick.’ P296

‘The leg was black and soft, like an overripe banana’ p296

‘They could not have begun to describe their time in the wards, or how it had changed them’ p311.

‘They saw the field ambulances among the lorries, and coming closer they saw the stretchers, score of them, set down haphazardly on the ground, and an expanse of dirty green battledress and stained bandages.’ P290

‘A wild race of men from a terrible world’ p291

‘Everywhere – a soup of smells – the sticky sour odour of fresh blood, and also filthy clothes, sweat, oil, disinfectant, medical alcohol, and drifting above it all, the stink of gangrene.’ P295

Question 7

Briony doesn’t change (1)

Answer 7

‘I still feel myself to be exactly the same person I’ve always been’p356

Question 8

Briony’s life is overwhelmingly better than Robbie’s (2)

Answer 8

‘In those days of May, before the story from France was fully understood, London had the outward signs, but not yet the mentality, of war’ p287

‘It was hard to believe that barely a hundred miles away was a military disaster.’ P288

Question 9

Briony is given what she has always wanted - a successful career, a long life, and the final production of the trials of Arabella (1)

Answer 9

‘Suddenly, she was right there before me, that busy priggish, conceited little girl, and she was not dead either, for when people tittered appreciatively at ‘evanesce’ my feeble heart – ridiculous vanity! – made a little leap. p367

Question 10

Briony cannot publish in her lifetime, so she isn’t punished (4)

Answer 10

‘I might outlive Paul Marshall, but Lola would certainly outlive me. The consequences of this are clear. The issue has been with us for years. As my editor put it once, publication equals litigation’ p359

‘She was the superior older girl, one step ahead of me… I will not be able to publish in my lifetime’ p359

‘my forensic memoir could never be published when my fellow criminals were alive.’

‘I know I cannot punish until they are dead. And, as of this morning, I accept that they will not be until I am.’ P370

Question 11

Alternatively, Briony’s inability to be punished is a form of punishment, as she desires pain as a result of her actions. (1)

Answer 11

‘But I could hardly face that now. There was already enough that I didn’t want to be thinking about.’ P359

Question 12

Robbie is unfairly punished with war (5)

Answer 12

‘There were horrors enough, but it was the unexpected detail that threw him and afterwards would not let him go.’ P191

‘He saw it… It was a leg in a tree. A mature plane tree, only just in leaf. The leg was twenty feet up, wedged in the first forking of the trunk, bare, severed cleanly above the knee. From where they stood there was no sign of blood or torn flesh.’ P192

‘It was a perfect leg, pale, smooth, small enough to be a child’s. The way it was angled in the fork, it seemed to be on display, for their benefit or enlightenment: this is a leg.’ P192

‘All he wanted now… was to forget about the leg’ p193

‘He thought about telling them of his own single, horrifying detail. But he didn’t want to add to the horror, and nor did he want to give life to the image while it remained at a distance’ p199

Question 13

Robbie is unfairly punished with prison

Answer 13

‘Being here, sheltering in a barn, with an army in rout, where a child’s limb in a tree was something that ordinary men could ignore, where a whole country, a whole civilisation was about to fall, was better than being there, on a narrow bed under dim electric light, waiting for nothing’ p202.

‘He could smell the concrete floor, and the piss in the bucket, and the gloss paint on the walls, and hear the snores of the men along the row’ p202

‘The stupidity and claustrophobia. The hand squeezing on his throat.’ P202

Question 14

Lola and Paul aren’t punished

Answer 14

‘Lola.. was able to retreat behind an air of wounded confusion, and as a treasured patient, recovering victim, lost child, let herself be bathed in the concern and guilt of the adults in her life’ p168

‘She had little more to do than remain silent behind her cousin’s zeal. Lola did not need to lie, to look her supposed attacked in the eye and summon the courage to accuse her, because all that work was done for her, innocently… Lola was required only to remain silent about the truth, banish it, and forget about it entirely..’ p168

‘But 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 a victim… More than that, surely; a chocolate magnate, the creator of Amo.’ P325

Question 15

Lola and Paul’s physical appearance in ‘London, 1999’, and Lola’s benefits in the wedding scene. This may show that they are unpunished. Alternatively, Lola appears elevated, above her attacker. (5)

Answer 15

‘Despite the liver spots and purplish swags under his eyes, he at last appeared the cruelly handsome plutocrat, though somewhat reduced.’ P357

‘Lola… still as lean and fit as a racing dog, and still faithful’ p358

‘There was an air of health farm about her, and an indoor tan. She was taller than her husband now, and there was no doubting her vigour.’ P358.

‘But 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 a victim… More than that, surely; a chocolate magnate, the creator of Amo.’ P325

Question 16

Lola and Paul’s class (2)

Answer 16

‘Or perhaps he just swept onwards without a thought, to live the life that was always his’ p357-358.

‘Lord and Lady Marshall’ p357

Question 17

Lola and Paul contribute positively to the world (3)

Answer 17

‘Their foundation and all the good work for medical research, or the collection they’ve donated to the Tate, or their generous funding of agricultural projects in sub-Saharan Africa. And her parties, and their vigorous libel actions against national newspapers.’ P357

‘It has often been remarked upon, how much good he did in the world.’ P357

‘Perhaps he’s spent a lifetime making amends. Or perhaps he just swept onwards without a thought, to live the life that was always his’ p357-358.

Question 18

Briony’s experiences are similar to Robbie’s (4)

Answer 18

‘To Briony, it appeared that her life was going to be lived in one room, without a door.’ P288

‘could smell the concrete floor, and the piss in the bucket, and the gloss paint on the walls, and hear the snores of the men along the row’

‘I was soon to join their ranks’

‘Like policemen on a search team, we go on hands and knees, and crawl our way towards the truth’ p359

Question 19

War has cyclical suffering (7)

Answer 19

‘What were they supposed to do? Carry a dozen men on their backs when they could barely walk themselves?’ p245

‘Like everyone else, Turner kept going’ p242

Being here, sheltering in a barn, with an army in rout, where a child’s limb in a tree was something that ordinary men could ignore, where a whole country, a whole civilisation was about to fall’ p202

‘It seemed another man’s life to him now. A dead civilisation. First his own life ruined, then everybody else’s.’p217

‘Who would care? Who could ever describe this confusion, and come up with the village names and the dates for the history books? And take the reasonable view and begin to assign the blame? No one would ever know what it was like to be here’ p277

‘Everyone had suffered, and now someone was going to pay’ p251.

‘first his own life ruined, then everybody else’s’.

Question 20

War has cyclical suffering (7)

Answer 20

‘What were they supposed to do? Carry a dozen men on their backs when they could barely walk themselves?’ p245

‘Like everyone else, Turner kept going’ p242

Being here, sheltering in a barn, with an army in rout, where a child’s limb in a tree was something that ordinary men could ignore, where a whole country, a whole civilisation was about to fall’ p202

‘It seemed another man’s life to him now. A dead civilisation. First his own life ruined, then everybody else’s.’p217

‘Who would care? Who could ever describe this confusion, and come up with the village names and the dates for the history books? And take the reasonable view and begin to assign the blame? No one would ever know what it was like to be here’ p277

‘Everyone had suffered, and now someone was going to pay’ p251.

‘first his own life ruined, then everybody else’s’.

Question 21

The police fail (9)

Answer 21

‘they knew their own minds, they knew what they wanted and how to proceed. She was asked again and again, and as she repeated herself, the burden of consistency was pressed upon her.’ P 169

‘She could not express these nuances. She did not even seriously try. There were no opportunities, no time, no permission.’ P 169

‘The process was moving fast and well beyond her control’ p169

‘There was enough light, it was established, from stars, and from the cloud base reflecting street lights from the nearest town.’ P170

‘Robbie between them. And handcuffed! She saw how his arms were forced in front of him… The disgrace of it horrified her. It was further confirmation of his guilt, and the beginning of his punishment. It had the look of eternal damnation’ p184

‘She raised the umbrella and shouted… Mrs Turner shook her arm free, raised the umbrella again, this time with two hands, and brought it down, goose head first, with a crack like a pistol shot.’ P186

‘As the constables half pushed, half carried her to the edge of the drive, she began to shout a single word so loudly that Briony could hear it from her bedroom.’ P 186

‘Liars! Liars! Liars! Mrs. Turner roared’ p187

‘the police had you to prosecute. They didn’t want their case messed up’ Cecilia P3 to Robbie

Question 22

Briony attempts to serve justice in part 1. She believes that she has a duty to protect her sister. (5)

Answer 22

‘What strange power did he have over her. Blackmail? Threats?’ p38

‘She did not doubt that her sister was in some way threatened’ p 114

‘Something irreducibly human, or male, threatened the order of their household’ p114

‘She had interrupted an attack, a hand-to hand fight… he looked so huge and wild’ p123

‘When she said… I saw him, she meant it, and was perfectly honest’ p 169

Question 23

Rewriting is justice (2)

Answer 23

‘My last novel, the one that should have been my first. The earliest version, January 1940, the latest, March 1999, and in between, half a dozen different drafts. The second draft, June 1947, the third… who cares to know? My fifty-nine-year assignment is over. There was our crime – Lola’s, Marshall’s, mine – and from the second version onwards, I set out to describe it. I’ve regarded it as my duty to disguise nothing – the names, the places, the exact circumstances – I put it all there as a matter of historical record.’ P369

‘Lovers and happy ends have been on my mind all night long’ p370

Question 24

Robbie and Cecilia get the ending they deserve (10)

Answer 24

‘There was a crime. But there were also lovers.’ P370

‘I cannot think what purpose would be served if, say, I tried to convince my reader… that Robbie Turner died of septicaemia at Bray Dunes on 1 June 1940, or that Cecilia was killed in the September of the same year by the bomb that destroyed Balham Underground station’ p370

They said they loved each other… and knew their future was together’ p207

‘His anxiety was not for the fighting he might have to do, but the threat to their Wiltshire dream’ p208

‘He could become again the man who had once crossed a Surrey park at dusk in his best suit, swaggering on the promise of life; p227

‘When she said ‘I’ll wait for you. Come back.’ She meant it. Time would show she meant it.’ P265

‘It is only in this last version that my lovers end well, standing side by side on a South London pavement as I walk away. All the preceding drafts were pitiless.’ P370

‘How could that constitute an ending? What sense of hope of satisfaction could a reader draw from such an account? Who would want to believe that they never met again? Who would want to believe that, except in the service of the bleakest realism? I couldn’t do it to them’ p371

‘But what really happened? The answer is simple: the lovers survive and flourish. As long as there is a single copy, a solitary typescript of my final draft, then my spontaneous, fortuitious sister and her medical prince survive to love.’ P372

‘A final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them at the end. I gave them happiness, but I was not so self-serving as to let them forgive me’ p372

Question 25

‘London, 1999’ erases this justice

Answer 25

‘If this girl has so fully misunderstood or been wholly baffled by the strange little scene that has unfolded before her, how might it affect the lives of the two adults? Might she come between them in some disastrous fashion?’ p313

‘Who would want to believe that they never met again, never fulfilled their love?’ p371

‘Briony will be as much of a fantasy as the lovers who shared a bed in Balham and enraged their landlady’ p371

Question 26

Briony cannot have justice (2)

Answer 26

‘I still feel myself to be exactly the same person I’ve always been ’p356

‘How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all’ p371