Briony Flashcards
(11 cards)
What does Briony say about divorce?
“She vaguely knew that divorce was an affliction, but she did not regard it as a proper subject”
divorce does x fit w Briony’s idea of romance and “stories”, not a happy ending and can x be undone.
What does Briony say about power?
“What strange power did he have over her. Blackmail? Threats?”
Briony actively looking for the dramatic. Her imagination is fuelled by the literature she has read.
What does Briony say about getting things wrong?
“How easy it was to get everything wrong, completely wrong”
abt fountain scene- foreshadowing. Briony about to get “everything wrong”. Repetition here emphasises gravity of her mistakes.
What does Briony say about the north and south?
“The family home in the north- Briony imagined streets of blackened mills, and grim men trudging to work with sandwiches in tin boxes”
reveals Briony’s own classism as she has a stereotypical view of what the industrial north looks like
What does Briony say regarding an insect?
“How could anyone presume to know the world through the eyes of an insect”
Marks Briony’s inability to empathise this becomes a key part to her atonement.
What does Briony say about truth?
“Truth was strange and deceptive”
makes the audience question the narrative…. Are we taking this as truth?
What does Briony say about darkness?
“The dark disk of Lola’s face showed nothing at all”
repeated reference to darkness continually creates doubt in Briony’s assertion that she “saw him plain as day”
What does Briony say about her name?
“She reread and committed to memory the commandment : in no circumstances should a nurse communicate to a patient her Christian name”
Briony, like Robbie has lost first name and lost part of identity- deliberate on her part as form of “penance”
in narrative, still called Briony emphasising that her loss is nothing compared to Robbie’s
What does Briony say about Amo bars?
“Damp sweaty battledress whose pockets contained rancid food along with the sodden crumbs of Amo bars?”
Amo paired with “sweaty battledress” and “rancid food” has incredibly negative connotations
What does Briony say about Robbie’s death?
“The other possibility that he could have been killed, seemed outlandish, against all the odds. It would have made no sense”
would have made no sense to Briony as it would x have been ordered, she would not have been able to set things right, would have made for an unfinished story.
What does Briony say about Cecilia and Robbie at the end of the novel?
“As long as there is a single copy, a solitary typescrip0t of my final drafty, then my spontaneous, fortuitous sister and her medical prince survive to love”
Power of literature, Briony able to give R and C happy ending, Adjectives used also link R and C to the characters in “trials of Arabella” play briony writing which aptly ends the postscript. Shows the unethical authorial power Briony holds over R and C
