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Sarah
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Chapter 9:
This chapter was interesting; I was surprised that pretty much all the events in here were cut out of the movie. In this chapter, Cecelia’s maternal instincts and her problem of wanting to be needed in her family come into play once again. When Jackson knocks on her door asking for help with the sock, she is very nurturing and patient with him. However, once again she really is doing this for the twins to, again, fulfill her maternal instincts.
However, she soon realizes that she is powerless to help them. She knows that they have been neglected and feels bad about that, but instead of truly trying to help them, she just pushes her guilt aside and focuses on cleaning the room. She tries to seem like she is taking charge, but this only makes the twins afraid of her. When she realizes this, she tries again to talk on their level, but is faced with the reality that she can never improve their situation when Pierrot tells her, “Actually, we’d prefer to go home” (94); again, Cecelia reacts to her sad feeling by trying to be an adult. That made me feel really sorry for the twins.
We also get more on Leon in this chapter; he is described as very low-key, and doesn’t really like anything unpleasant. I sort of liked that, and could even kind of relate to it, but after seeing all that happened in the kitchen just before, it made me kind of annoyed with him that he wasn’t pulling all his weight and just making things harder for Cecelia, at least in my opinion.
Chapter 10:
After reading this section, I finally understand why Briony is such a frustrating character; in the movie, it wasn’t clear to me that she was mainly excited about this knowledge because she wanted to improve her writing style. I just thought that her actions were motivated by fear and confusion, and just…not knowing any better. And even after reading this chapter, I do still think that to an extent. Briony does want to protect and help Cecelia, and she is definitely motivated by fear. I’ll see how I feel about her when she makes the claim in court.
The other thing I noticed about this chapter was that Briony’s notion of growing up was extremely black and white. All she did was read a terrible word that she was pretty sure she understood, and then she’s talking about “never sit[ting] on Emily’s or Cecelia’s lap again” (109). There were numerous times in this chapter where Briony has thoughts along the lines of, “I can do this because I’m an adult now!”; one of the most surprising examples is how she adopts Cecelia’s maternal instincts when she is trying to calm Lola. But each time that happened, all I was thinking was, “No. You’re wrong; you have not just ‘grown up’ because of that one situation, and you’re trying to do all these things that you are not capable of.”
Also, Lola’s talk with Briony just proves to the reader that Briony is not as grown up as she thinks she is, because Lola can convince Briony so easily that Robbie is a maniac. And again, this made me feel sorry for Briony, especially when she backs away from Robbie in the library. She is momentarily distracted from the excitement of her newfound “maturity,” and at least by the time she goes down to dinner, is very preoccupied about her sister’s safety.
What I have noticed in chapters before and these pages as well is that Danny Hardman is a creeper. I think that what Mcewan is trying to do is set up Lola's rape with the reader believing it is another character than Paul Marshall. Since we already saw the movie we clearly know that Marshall is the one resposible for the rape.There are so many clues that point to Hardman's character than Marshall's. Then in these pages Lola lies about what really happened to her. Once again refrencing the movie we know who is responsible and reading the book know we see the clues that lead up to Lola's rape. When she talks about her brothers holding her and hitting her it is possible that it was Marshall since in a few pages before we see that Jackson and Pierrot where with Cecelia looking for socks to wear. The thing that I found really strange about her story was that her 'brothers' attacked her just as she was about to take a bath. When she told Briony about this I felt pity for her but then I felt anger. She is partly at fault as well putting ideas into Briony's head about Robbie being a maniac. This pushes Briony to commit her crime.
(Because I combined the pages from the last blog between Chapter 9 – Chapter 11, this is a repost from the first summary that I posted from the previous blog)
n Chapter 9, when Cecilia is getting ready for the dinner with her family and brother. Cecilia discovers the twins, Jackson and Pierrot fighting in the hallway over a pair of socks. Cecilia helps them by substituting the missing pair of socks with that of Briony’s socks. These young twins foreshadow the young soldiers who will be stuck in the middle of a war zone. “Pierrot said, ‘Actually, we’d prefer to go home.’ ” (Page 94). The twins and the two soldiers desire nothing more than to find a way back home. However, the only obstacle in their way is the fact that they have no idea how to get home nor do they fully know where home is. Then of course at the end of the chapter, Cecilia is given Robbie’s note by Briony, and is enlightened of her oppressed love for Robbie Turner. Nevertheless, Cecilia is aware that the letter didn’t come with an envelope, hypothesizing that Briony had read Robbie’s letter first before she handed it it to her sister.
Throughout the reading, I found many points of comparison between Robbie and Leon. While Robbie sticks to his politics and scientific theories, Leon holds no stance on such controversial issues. Leon is satisfied with his job at the bank, which he describes as “dull and perfectly pleasant,” (101). Robbie, on the other hand, is excited for the “fresh adventure” of medical school. Leon is an idealist that projects his idealism over his whole life, creating a world for himself in which “no one was mean-spirited, no one schemed or lied or betrayed. Everyone was celebrated at least in some degree,” (101). Leon is lucky that his naivety hasn’t been a significant problem in his life. But Leon’s happy, nice, smoothly run world can’t exist for Robbie (or the majority of people, for that matter), because he tasted betrayal at the young age of six. Robbie may not know everything, but I wouldn’t describe him as particularly naïve. They also oppose each other in temperament; Leon is a kickback and relax kind of guy, soft and charming, while Robbie is more impulsive, intense, and confrontational. I feel like Cecilia’s attraction to Robbie, her seeing him not as a brother, but as a lover, is (in part) facilitated by these differentiations. She knows Leon to the point of “perfectly tolerable, even soothing,” blandness, but Robbie is as interesting as he is distressing. Cecilia can allow herself to remove the “brother” label from Robbie and pursue a very different kind of relationship.
Even though Briony really had no business reading Cecilia’s letter, I’m glad she did. I love her logic behind the action; “It was wrong to open other people’s letters, but it was right, it was essential, for her to know everything,” (106). If she really wants to progress from fairytales to real life stories, she has to accept the not so savory truths that unfold in day-to-day life. Briony has discovered the male mind, and recognizes what she’s found; “Something irreducibly human, or male, threatened the order of their household,” (107). Honestly, Briony impresses me with her philosophical approach to writing. She understands the elements of a story with depth and power, and refuses to skip over these all-important subtleties, even ones she doesn’t understand. She asks “how to do feelings?” (109), and in asking this question Briony demonstrates the maturity of her writing. Yet her innocence is almost comically announced by her interpretation of whatever’s happening in the library. It doesn’t even cross her mind that Cecilia is participating in the act, just as much, and just as consensually as is Robbie. She automatically concludes that Robbie is attacking her sister.
Now for the whole “Robbie is a maniac” thing. Out of fear and confusion, Lola tries to protect Paul and place the blame of her injuries on someone else. She picks the ones who can’t defend themselves, the twins, but when Briony provides her with the disturbing piece of information about Robbie, Lola is all too quick to call him a maniac. Briony accepts this “diagnosis” even though she can’t recall an actual incident that would support this claim. I think Briony likes the drama. She finds invisible betrayal much more interesting than lack of betrayal; “He’s always pretended to be rather nice. He’s deceived us for years,” (112). Robbie, quite frankly, is a horny teenager. The maniac is Paul.
This book is starting to grow on me more then I ever thought it would. I am still not a big fan of the story because it is very slow and even more uneventful, but I like McEwans writing style and the amount of detail he puts into everything. He makes even the smallest thing seem real. In chapter nine, we get to see life from Cecilia’s point of view. At first, when she is trying on the dresses she seems very arrogant and self-centered, she is only worried about just the right dress. Later when she is talking with the twins, the reader sees that she is actually quite kind and is sweet to the twins. In the next chapter we get to hear from Briony. Briony continues to make me angry whenever I read from her prospective. Her character is very naïve and seems like she is about eight. After she reads Robbie’s letter, she seems to know what the word means and that it is bad, yet she does not even say it in her head, but rather seems to play games about what it sounds like. Another example of her innocence and naivety is when she does not piece together the injuries on both Lola and Marshall. She just agrees with what Lola says happened without thinking twice about it.
In this section my complete admiration of McEwan's writing wavers a little. The passage about Cecilia trying on dresses makes sense. It perfectly encapsulates her indecisiveness and gives an undertone that perhaps she is nervous for this dinner for some reason. Maybe because Robbie is coming we are never sure. What I thought was a little unnecessary was to dedicate about three page to Cecilia finding socks for Pierrot and Jackson. I guess he can't turn his descriptive writing gene on and off like a machine. Also when they were talking about the dinner roast I couldn't have cared less. Especially when they wanted to do it just for Leon; it's too goddamn hot in this scene for a roast, don't cater to that guy; he's such a tool. Every time Leon talks, in my mind all I can think is "shut up no one cares." I'm not sure if McEwan's intent was to have everything that leaves Leon's mouth uninteresting drivel but that is how it is perceived in my brain. Conversely whenever Paul Marshall speaks, my brain goes on *predator alert* and reads all of his dialogue in my best rapist impression. Even when he offers a drink (which sounds like mud in a martini glass) I imagine him thinking 'I put roofies in one of these glasses. Guess which one!' Speaking of rape, Lola did a wonderful job of inflating Briony's false perception on Robbie. By labeling him a "maniac" she opened so many doors for Briony's imagination. And of course Briony walks in on Cecilia and Robbie (just when it was getting good) because what else could happen? In that giant old house of course she stumbles in to the dark recesses of the library, looking for her sister, only to find her in a compromising position.
Finally things start to happen during this part of the story. While it has an incredibly slow start with Cecilia's trying on of all her different dresses i understand the importance it plays in showing Cecilias character. The scene where Briony runs in and hands Cecilia Robbie's letter is sooo nerve racking. Once Cecilia realizes Briony read the letter she just lets it go which i don't understand at all. Briony is only ten years old and nobody seems to want to console her about what is going on between Robbie and Cecilia. I mean I understand that none of them could foresee the trouble Briony would bring but still i feel like someone should have dealt with it.
This Chapter really explains how indecisive and stuck cecelia is. she tries dress after dress while changing make up and hair for each dress. shes stuck between the old and the new the dresses litterally being old and new dresses. before her going off to college and after going to college. then in the next scene when the twins need socks it shows how much she believes she needs to be a motherly figure. then when finally done she has to go down to the kitchen and fix the mess her mother has made then she finally is allowed time to be alone with her brother and catch up. when she is called back inside i think she really kind of breaks because briony hands her a letter that she has read before giving to cecilia. i think she breaks becasue even though she tried so hard to be a motherly figure and so hard to be a good person but she gets nothing in return. so when she reads the letter she allows herself to be swept up in it because she sees that she can only really take care of herself.
When Cecilia receives the letter from Briony, she seems more concerned that her younger sister read the letter than about Robbie's behavior. This may be to hide her own embarrassment, or to shield Briony. Regardless, Briony feels the need to defend Cecilia: "her sister's protector," (p. 115). She demonizes Robbie, calling him a "maniac," (p. 112). For a moment, she and Lola bond over this scandal. Lola recommends that Briony tell the police. I think Briony should stay out, or she'll cause bigger trouble. And Briony walking in on them making love...that must have been extremely awkward.
I like how Cecilia has been given layers. I would've liked to see the dressing scene shown in the movie, because in the movie she was shown as rather stuck-up and bitchy, while in the book she's pretty relatable. I liked seeing the scene with her and the twins - it didn't really move the plot along at all, but it unveiled a more maternal side of Cecilia. In chapter ten, I can finally understand why people are fed up with Briony. She's very nosy and obnoxious and if I were her sister/mother/related in any way to her, I'd want to scream (needless to say, I'm Team Cecilia...kind of). We also get a subtle clue that Marshall has been harassing Lola. This is the plot point that fascinates me the most. I would love to read the story from Lola's POV, because she's the most interesting character to me. She's only a year younger than I am, so by that logic she's very relatable. I'd love to be able to get inside her head and read about her streams of consciousness during the first attacks with Marshall. Then we're brought to the famous library scene. Poor Briony. And poor Cecilia, and Robbie. I'd be scarred if I were in any of their positions during that awkward exchange.
I didn't really think that part of this section was a necessary addition to the book. It slightly adds to Cecelia's character depiction when she is getting dressed, choosing gowns, ect. ect.
When the mother is listening with her "super power" hearing, and hears a man's voice in the nursery, one would think that would raise eyebrows. And the immediate, "Marshal must be talking to the twins" shows how classist Emily is. She seems incapable of finding fault with another of the aristocratic class.
And for Robbie and Cecilia, WTF stupid people. Its called a lock. Use it. That way, you can avoid, I don't know, those awkward situations that arise when younger siblings walk in through the door. Really stupid, people.
I didn't really think that part of this section was a necessary addition to the book. It slightly adds to Cecelia's character depiction when she is getting dressed, choosing gowns, ect. ect.
When the mother is listening with her "super power" hearing, and hears a man's voice in the nursery, one would think that would raise eyebrows. And the immediate, "Marshal must be talking to the twins" shows how classist Emily is. She seems incapable of finding fault with another of the aristocratic class.
And for Robbie and Cecilia, WTF stupid people. Its called a lock. Use it. That way, you can avoid, I don't know, those awkward situations that arise when younger siblings walk in through the door. Really stupid, people.
Briony’s cousin, Lola, comes into Briony’s room complaining about her twin brothers. Lola told Briony that the twins attacked her, leaving her with cuts and bruises. Being young and angry at the twins for ruining her play, Briony believed everything Lola told her. She was convinced that the twins were capable of and evil enough to beat up Lola. Wanting to be like Lola, grown up and sophisticated, Briony felt inclined to tell Lola a secret. Briony told Lola about the letter Robbie sent to Cecilia. Since Briony is not mature enough to understand why Robbie would write such a letter, she labels Robbie as a maniac. On the topic of maniacs, Lola “seemed about to tell her cousin something new” (113), possibly something about Paul Marshall, the maniac who might have raped her, but instead Lola began to brush her hair.
Briony reads the letter to Cecilia from Robbie is horrified, she then gives the letter to her sister and ignores Cecilia when she asks if Briony read the letter. Briony then talks to Lola who tells Briony that the Twins have been torturing her and that is the reason for all of her injuries. I don’t understand why nobody really looks into the issue besides a slight comment about it. When Robbie shows up Cecilia talks to him about the letter and he is worried about what she will say. When she tells him that she feels the same way he is extremely relieved. Then one thing leads to another and they end up in the library together making love. Everything is alright until Briony walks in and makes everything really really awkward. Robbie and Cecilia subconsciously agree to just leave and never talk to Briony about it. Great plan right?
I could not give less of a shit about Cecilia’s indecisiveness about what to wear. There is literally nothing less interesting to me than reading about how a woman can’t decide what to wear. Watching paint dry is more exciting than the soul crushing boredom of deciding what outfit to put on. I don’t care what it says about her character, there are more interesting ways to express her indecisiveness and whatever the hell else not be able to decide what goddamn dress to put on means! Now that that’s out of the way I can move on to the important part: the delivery of the letter. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read that part, even though the repercussions would be horrifying. I just love when upper class prudes are shocked by vulgarity. Reading about it in the book is only second to the movie where I can physically see the expression on Cecilia’s face. I love it.
It seem like Briony is trying to grow up too fast. Besides the twins, Briony is the youngest one in the house and seems to feel pressured into behaving as an adult. However, Briony is naive and does not understand why adults do the things they do. When she sees her cousin after she is raped, Briony relies on her imagination convince herself and everyone else that it was Robbie who raped Lola. Briony believes that she is helping her sister by getting Robbie away from her and into jail. Briony is too young to realize that her sister and Robbie are in love. However, Briony thinks that she is a grown up who can make mature decisions and is adamant that she saw Robbie. Everyone believes Briony because it is easy to blame the servant's son.
I found Cecilia trying to choose which dress to wear was just filler. I get that it is used to help define how indecisive she is. I just don't think that three or four pages isn't really necessary. Robbie giving the letter to Briony wasn't a very intelligent. Doesn't he know that she is going to read it? I know he didn't mean to give the ermm interesting letter. Also what is with Briony? You don't read people's letters, and if you do, you don't let them know you did! The letter does show Briony's innocence, the fact she can't even say it in her head, let alone out loud. The letter also shows that she feels like she is now growing up and that she can no longer do "childish" things. Though when she walks in on Robbie and her sister she kind of freaks in her childish way. I still don't know how I feel about this book or the characters.
Briony is being annoying as usual in this section. She gives Robbie’s letter to Cecilia, obviously having read it because it was not in the envelope. Briony ignores her sister when confronted with questions of the letter. She is in her own little world that reality does not pierce. I also hate how Cecilia realizes that Robbie likes only her after she reads the letter, not all the hints that she says happened over the years. Then Briony starts being friendly with Lola even after imagining her dying just to try to get her to hate Robbie. It was kind of funny how Briony found Robbie and Cecilia. But of course, Briony sees this event through her delusional world as Robbie attacking Cecilia.
This reading was very interesting. It begins with Cecilia getting ready for a formal summer dinner. The amount of thought she put into her image was amusing, and definitely shows she was "dressed to impress". Which she later comes to realize after she reads Robbie's revealing letter, "It was clear to her now. Why else take so long to choose a dress, or fight over a vase, or find everything so different, or be unable to leave?"(105) After spending so much time confused and unsure of her feelings it was nice to finally know how Cecilia feels about Robbie.
Foolishly Robbie gave the letter to Briony to deliver to Cecilia. Briony, being a thirteen year old and curious about everything reads Robbie's provocative letter. Immediately Briony feels guilty, but she also feels more grown up. "With the letter, something elemental, brutal, perhaps even criminal had been introduced, some principle of darkness." (107) Briony seeing the word "cunt" is existential for her, because it's something that doesn't exist in fairy-tales.
It seems to me that Briony feels she must protect people because she's unique and more intelligent. In the case with Lola, Briony wants to cheer her up so she shares her secret; and when Lola is getting ready for dinner Briony suggests she wear something that would cover the scratch on her arm. After reading Robbie's letter Briony is instantly on the defense to protect her sister. When Briony witnesses Cecilia and Robbie in the library she automatically assumes Robbie is attacking Cecilia. "He looked so huge and wild, and Cecilia with her bare shoulders and thin arms so frail that Briony had no idea what she could achieve as she started toward them."(116) It is understandable that Briony would be confused, especially after reading the letter.
This wasn't my favorite section of the novel. Except for the obvious - the delivery of that fateful letter - the plot didn't move forward much. In fact this section almost feels like filler, something for McEwan to up his page count with. I didn't feel that it was necessary to dive into the twins' lost socks, and Leon's rowing club. All I wanted was the letter; I knew it was coming, yet McEwan decided to bore me to death before finally giving me the scene I wanted.
The "confrontation" between Briony and Cecelia was the best part of this section. I loved Cecelia's urgings, her growing annoyance, and growing fear. I loved Briony pretending to ignore Cecelia and her attempts to change the subject. I have played both these parts in conversations with my sisters. I understand Cecelia's growing frustration as it becomes clear that Briony won't respond and I understand Briony's innate urge to ignore any confrontation.
21 comments:
Chapter 9:
This chapter was interesting; I was surprised that pretty much all the events in here were cut out of the movie. In this chapter, Cecelia’s maternal instincts and her problem of wanting to be needed in her family come into play once again. When Jackson knocks on her door asking for help with the sock, she is very nurturing and patient with him. However, once again she really is doing this for the twins to, again, fulfill her maternal instincts.
However, she soon realizes that she is powerless to help them. She knows that they have been neglected and feels bad about that, but instead of truly trying to help them, she just pushes her guilt aside and focuses on cleaning the room. She tries to seem like she is taking charge, but this only makes the twins afraid of her. When she realizes this, she tries again to talk on their level, but is faced with the reality that she can never improve their situation when Pierrot tells her, “Actually, we’d prefer to go home” (94); again, Cecelia reacts to her sad feeling by trying to be an adult. That made me feel really sorry for the twins.
We also get more on Leon in this chapter; he is described as very low-key, and doesn’t really like anything unpleasant. I sort of liked that, and could even kind of relate to it, but after seeing all that happened in the kitchen just before, it made me kind of annoyed with him that he wasn’t pulling all his weight and just making things harder for Cecelia, at least in my opinion.
Chapter 10:
After reading this section, I finally understand why Briony is such a frustrating character; in the movie, it wasn’t clear to me that she was mainly excited about this knowledge because she wanted to improve her writing style. I just thought that her actions were motivated by fear and confusion, and just…not knowing any better. And even after reading this chapter, I do still think that to an extent. Briony does want to protect and help Cecelia, and she is definitely motivated by fear. I’ll see how I feel about her when she makes the claim in court.
The other thing I noticed about this chapter was that Briony’s notion of growing up was extremely black and white. All she did was read a terrible word that she was pretty sure she understood, and then she’s talking about “never sit[ting] on Emily’s or Cecelia’s lap again” (109). There were numerous times in this chapter where Briony has thoughts along the lines of, “I can do this because I’m an adult now!”; one of the most surprising examples is how she adopts Cecelia’s maternal instincts when she is trying to calm Lola. But each time that happened, all I was thinking was, “No. You’re wrong; you have not just ‘grown up’ because of that one situation, and you’re trying to do all these things that you are not capable of.”
Also, Lola’s talk with Briony just proves to the reader that Briony is not as grown up as she thinks she is, because Lola can convince Briony so easily that Robbie is a maniac. And again, this made me feel sorry for Briony, especially when she backs away from Robbie in the library. She is momentarily distracted from the excitement of her newfound “maturity,” and at least by the time she goes down to dinner, is very preoccupied about her sister’s safety.
What I have noticed in chapters before and these pages as well is that Danny Hardman is a creeper. I think that what Mcewan is trying to do is set up Lola's rape with the reader believing it is another character than Paul Marshall. Since we already saw the movie we clearly know that Marshall is the one resposible for the rape.There are so many clues that point to Hardman's character than Marshall's.
Then in these pages Lola lies about what really happened to her. Once again refrencing the movie we know who is responsible and reading the book know we see the clues that lead up to Lola's rape. When she talks about her brothers holding her and hitting her it is possible that it was Marshall since in a few pages before we see that Jackson and Pierrot where with Cecelia looking for socks to wear. The thing that I found really strange about her story was that her 'brothers' attacked her just as she was about to take a bath. When she told Briony about this I felt pity for her but then I felt anger. She is partly at fault as well putting ideas into Briony's head about Robbie being a maniac. This pushes Briony to commit her crime.
(Because I combined the pages from the last blog between Chapter 9 – Chapter 11, this is a repost from the first summary that I posted from the previous blog)
n Chapter 9, when Cecilia is getting ready for the dinner with her family and brother. Cecilia discovers the twins, Jackson and Pierrot fighting in the hallway over a pair of socks. Cecilia helps them by substituting the missing pair of socks with that of Briony’s socks. These young twins foreshadow the young soldiers who will be stuck in the middle of a war zone. “Pierrot said, ‘Actually, we’d prefer to go home.’ ” (Page 94). The twins and the two soldiers desire nothing more than to find a way back home. However, the only obstacle in their way is the fact that they have no idea how to get home nor do they fully know where home is. Then of course at the end of the chapter, Cecilia is given Robbie’s note by Briony, and is enlightened of her oppressed love for Robbie Turner. Nevertheless, Cecilia is aware that the letter didn’t come with an envelope, hypothesizing that Briony had read Robbie’s letter first before she handed it it to her sister.
Throughout the reading, I found many points of comparison between Robbie and Leon. While Robbie sticks to his politics and scientific theories, Leon holds no stance on such controversial issues. Leon is satisfied with his job at the bank, which he describes as “dull and perfectly pleasant,” (101). Robbie, on the other hand, is excited for the “fresh adventure” of medical school. Leon is an idealist that projects his idealism over his whole life, creating a world for himself in which “no one was mean-spirited, no one schemed or lied or betrayed. Everyone was celebrated at least in some degree,” (101). Leon is lucky that his naivety hasn’t been a significant problem in his life. But Leon’s happy, nice, smoothly run world can’t exist for Robbie (or the majority of people, for that matter), because he tasted betrayal at the young age of six. Robbie may not know everything, but I wouldn’t describe him as particularly naïve. They also oppose each other in temperament; Leon is a kickback and relax kind of guy, soft and charming, while Robbie is more impulsive, intense, and confrontational. I feel like Cecilia’s attraction to Robbie, her seeing him not as a brother, but as a lover, is (in part) facilitated by these differentiations. She knows Leon to the point of “perfectly tolerable, even soothing,” blandness, but Robbie is as interesting as he is distressing. Cecilia can allow herself to remove the “brother” label from Robbie and pursue a very different kind of relationship.
Even though Briony really had no business reading Cecilia’s letter, I’m glad she did. I love her logic behind the action; “It was wrong to open other people’s letters, but it was right, it was essential, for her to know everything,” (106). If she really wants to progress from fairytales to real life stories, she has to accept the not so savory truths that unfold in day-to-day life. Briony has discovered the male mind, and recognizes what she’s found; “Something irreducibly human, or male, threatened the order of their household,” (107). Honestly, Briony impresses me with her philosophical approach to writing. She understands the elements of a story with depth and power, and refuses to skip over these all-important subtleties, even ones she doesn’t understand. She asks “how to do feelings?” (109), and in asking this question Briony demonstrates the maturity of her writing. Yet her innocence is almost comically announced by her interpretation of whatever’s happening in the library. It doesn’t even cross her mind that Cecilia is participating in the act, just as much, and just as consensually as is Robbie. She automatically concludes that Robbie is attacking her sister.
Now for the whole “Robbie is a maniac” thing. Out of fear and confusion, Lola tries to protect Paul and place the blame of her injuries on someone else. She picks the ones who can’t defend themselves, the twins, but when Briony provides her with the disturbing piece of information about Robbie, Lola is all too quick to call him a maniac. Briony accepts this “diagnosis” even though she can’t recall an actual incident that would support this claim. I think Briony likes the drama. She finds invisible betrayal much more interesting than lack of betrayal; “He’s always pretended to be rather nice. He’s deceived us for years,” (112). Robbie, quite frankly, is a horny teenager. The maniac is Paul.
This book is starting to grow on me more then I ever thought it would. I am still not a big fan of the story because it is very slow and even more uneventful, but I like McEwans writing style and the amount of detail he puts into everything. He makes even the smallest thing seem real.
In chapter nine, we get to see life from Cecilia’s point of view. At first, when she is trying on the dresses she seems very arrogant and self-centered, she is only worried about just the right dress. Later when she is talking with the twins, the reader sees that she is actually quite kind and is sweet to the twins.
In the next chapter we get to hear from Briony. Briony continues to make me angry whenever I read from her prospective. Her character is very naïve and seems like she is about eight. After she reads Robbie’s letter, she seems to know what the word means and that it is bad, yet she does not even say it in her head, but rather seems to play games about what it sounds like. Another example of her innocence and naivety is when she does not piece together the injuries on both Lola and Marshall. She just agrees with what Lola says happened without thinking twice about it.
In this section my complete admiration of McEwan's writing wavers a little. The passage about Cecilia trying on dresses makes sense. It perfectly encapsulates her indecisiveness and gives an undertone that perhaps she is nervous for this dinner for some reason. Maybe because Robbie is coming we are never sure. What I thought was a little unnecessary was to dedicate about three page to Cecilia finding socks for Pierrot and Jackson. I guess he can't turn his descriptive writing gene on and off like a machine. Also when they were talking about the dinner roast I couldn't have cared less. Especially when they wanted to do it just for Leon; it's too goddamn hot in this scene for a roast, don't cater to that guy; he's such a tool. Every time Leon talks, in my mind all I can think is "shut up no one cares." I'm not sure if McEwan's intent was to have everything that leaves Leon's mouth uninteresting drivel but that is how it is perceived in my brain. Conversely whenever Paul Marshall speaks, my brain goes on *predator alert* and reads all of his dialogue in my best rapist impression. Even when he offers a drink (which sounds like mud in a martini glass) I imagine him thinking 'I put roofies in one of these glasses. Guess which one!' Speaking of rape, Lola did a wonderful job of inflating Briony's false perception on Robbie. By labeling him a "maniac" she opened so many doors for Briony's imagination. And of course Briony walks in on Cecilia and Robbie (just when it was getting good) because what else could happen? In that giant old house of course she stumbles in to the dark recesses of the library, looking for her sister, only to find her in a compromising position.
Finally things start to happen during this part of the story. While it has an incredibly slow start with Cecilia's trying on of all her different dresses i understand the importance it plays in showing Cecilias character. The scene where Briony runs in and hands Cecilia Robbie's letter is sooo nerve racking. Once Cecilia realizes Briony read the letter she just lets it go which i don't understand at all. Briony is only ten years old and nobody seems to want to console her about what is going on between Robbie and Cecilia. I mean I understand that none of them could foresee the trouble Briony would bring but still i feel like someone should have dealt with it.
This Chapter really explains how indecisive and stuck cecelia is. she tries dress after dress while changing make up and hair for each dress. shes stuck between the old and the new the dresses litterally being old and new dresses. before her going off to college and after going to college. then in the next scene when the twins need socks it shows how much she believes she needs to be a motherly figure. then when finally done she has to go down to the kitchen and fix the mess her mother has made then she finally is allowed time to be alone with her brother and catch up. when she is called back inside i think she really kind of breaks because briony hands her a letter that she has read before giving to cecilia. i think she breaks becasue even though she tried so hard to be a motherly figure and so hard to be a good person but she gets nothing in return. so when she reads the letter she allows herself to be swept up in it because she sees that she can only really take care of herself.
When Cecilia receives the letter from Briony, she seems more concerned that her younger sister read the letter than about Robbie's behavior. This may be to hide her own embarrassment, or to shield Briony. Regardless, Briony feels the need to defend Cecilia: "her sister's protector," (p. 115). She demonizes Robbie, calling him a "maniac," (p. 112). For a moment, she and Lola bond over this scandal. Lola recommends that Briony tell the police. I think Briony should stay out, or she'll cause bigger trouble. And Briony walking in on them making love...that must have been extremely awkward.
I like how Cecilia has been given layers. I would've liked to see the dressing scene shown in the movie, because in the movie she was shown as rather stuck-up and bitchy, while in the book she's pretty relatable. I liked seeing the scene with her and the twins - it didn't really move the plot along at all, but it unveiled a more maternal side of Cecilia.
In chapter ten, I can finally understand why people are fed up with Briony. She's very nosy and obnoxious and if I were her sister/mother/related in any way to her, I'd want to scream (needless to say, I'm Team Cecilia...kind of).
We also get a subtle clue that Marshall has been harassing Lola. This is the plot point that fascinates me the most. I would love to read the story from Lola's POV, because she's the most interesting character to me. She's only a year younger than I am, so by that logic she's very relatable. I'd love to be able to get inside her head and read about her streams of consciousness during the first attacks with Marshall.
Then we're brought to the famous library scene. Poor Briony. And poor Cecilia, and Robbie. I'd be scarred if I were in any of their positions during that awkward exchange.
I didn't really think that part of this section was a necessary addition to the book. It slightly adds to Cecelia's character depiction when she is getting dressed, choosing gowns, ect. ect.
When the mother is listening with her "super power" hearing, and hears a man's voice in the nursery, one would think that would raise eyebrows. And the immediate, "Marshal must be talking to the twins" shows how classist Emily is. She seems incapable of finding fault with another of the aristocratic class.
And for Robbie and Cecilia, WTF stupid people. Its called a lock. Use it. That way, you can avoid, I don't know, those awkward situations that arise when younger siblings walk in through the door. Really stupid, people.
I didn't really think that part of this section was a necessary addition to the book. It slightly adds to Cecelia's character depiction when she is getting dressed, choosing gowns, ect. ect.
When the mother is listening with her "super power" hearing, and hears a man's voice in the nursery, one would think that would raise eyebrows. And the immediate, "Marshal must be talking to the twins" shows how classist Emily is. She seems incapable of finding fault with another of the aristocratic class.
And for Robbie and Cecilia, WTF stupid people. Its called a lock. Use it. That way, you can avoid, I don't know, those awkward situations that arise when younger siblings walk in through the door. Really stupid, people.
Briony’s cousin, Lola, comes into Briony’s room complaining about her twin brothers. Lola told Briony that the twins attacked her, leaving her with cuts and bruises. Being young and angry at the twins for ruining her play, Briony believed everything Lola told her. She was convinced that the twins were capable of and evil enough to beat up Lola. Wanting to be like Lola, grown up and sophisticated, Briony felt inclined to tell Lola a secret. Briony told Lola about the letter Robbie sent to Cecilia. Since Briony is not mature enough to understand why Robbie would write such a letter, she labels Robbie as a maniac. On the topic of maniacs, Lola “seemed about to tell her cousin something new” (113), possibly something about Paul Marshall, the maniac who might have raped her, but instead Lola began to brush her hair.
Briony reads the letter to Cecilia from Robbie is horrified, she then gives the letter to her sister and ignores Cecilia when she asks if Briony read the letter. Briony then talks to Lola who tells Briony that the Twins have been torturing her and that is the reason for all of her injuries. I don’t understand why nobody really looks into the issue besides a slight comment about it. When Robbie shows up Cecilia talks to him about the letter and he is worried about what she will say. When she tells him that she feels the same way he is extremely relieved. Then one thing leads to another and they end up in the library together making love. Everything is alright until Briony walks in and makes everything really really awkward. Robbie and Cecilia subconsciously agree to just leave and never talk to Briony about it. Great plan right?
I could not give less of a shit about Cecilia’s indecisiveness about what to wear. There is literally nothing less interesting to me than reading about how a woman can’t decide what to wear. Watching paint dry is more exciting than the soul crushing boredom of deciding what outfit to put on. I don’t care what it says about her character, there are more interesting ways to express her indecisiveness and whatever the hell else not be able to decide what goddamn dress to put on means! Now that that’s out of the way I can move on to the important part: the delivery of the letter. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I read that part, even though the repercussions would be horrifying. I just love when upper class prudes are shocked by vulgarity. Reading about it in the book is only second to the movie where I can physically see the expression on Cecilia’s face. I love it.
It seem like Briony is trying to grow up too fast. Besides the twins, Briony is the youngest one in the house and seems to feel pressured into behaving as an adult. However, Briony is naive and does not understand why adults do the things they do. When she sees her cousin after she is raped, Briony relies on her imagination convince herself and everyone else that it was Robbie who raped Lola. Briony believes that she is helping her sister by getting Robbie away from her and into jail. Briony is too young to realize that her sister and Robbie are in love. However, Briony thinks that she is a grown up who can make mature decisions and is adamant that she saw Robbie. Everyone believes Briony because it is easy to blame the servant's son.
I found Cecilia trying to choose which dress to wear was just filler. I get that it is used to help define how indecisive she is. I just don't think that three or four pages isn't really necessary. Robbie giving the letter to Briony wasn't a very intelligent. Doesn't he know that she is going to read it? I know he didn't mean to give the ermm interesting letter. Also what is with Briony? You don't read people's letters, and if you do, you don't let them know you did! The letter does show Briony's innocence, the fact she can't even say it in her head, let alone out loud. The letter also shows that she feels like she is now growing up and that she can no longer do "childish" things. Though when she walks in on Robbie and her sister she kind of freaks in her childish way. I still don't know how I feel about this book or the characters.
Briony is being annoying as usual in this section. She gives Robbie’s letter to Cecilia, obviously having read it because it was not in the envelope. Briony ignores her sister when confronted with questions of the letter. She is in her own little world that reality does not pierce. I also hate how Cecilia realizes that Robbie likes only her after she reads the letter, not all the hints that she says happened over the years. Then Briony starts being friendly with Lola even after imagining her dying just to try to get her to hate Robbie. It was kind of funny how Briony found Robbie and Cecilia. But of course, Briony sees this event through her delusional world as Robbie attacking Cecilia.
This reading was very interesting. It begins with Cecilia getting ready for a formal summer dinner. The amount of thought she put into her image was amusing, and definitely shows she was "dressed to impress". Which she later comes to realize after she reads Robbie's revealing letter, "It was clear to her now. Why else take so long to choose a dress, or fight over a vase, or find everything so different, or be unable to leave?"(105) After spending so much time confused and unsure of her feelings it was nice to finally know how Cecilia feels about Robbie.
Foolishly Robbie gave the letter to Briony to deliver to Cecilia. Briony, being a thirteen year old and curious about everything reads Robbie's provocative letter. Immediately Briony feels guilty, but she also feels more grown up. "With the letter, something elemental, brutal, perhaps even criminal had been introduced, some principle of darkness." (107) Briony seeing the word "cunt" is existential for her, because it's something that doesn't exist in fairy-tales.
It seems to me that Briony feels she must protect people because she's unique and more intelligent. In the case with Lola, Briony wants to cheer her up so she shares her secret; and when Lola is getting ready for dinner Briony suggests she wear something that would cover the scratch on her arm. After reading Robbie's letter Briony is instantly on the defense to protect her sister. When Briony witnesses Cecilia and Robbie in the library she automatically assumes Robbie is attacking Cecilia. "He looked so huge and wild, and Cecilia with her bare shoulders and thin arms so frail that Briony had no idea what she could achieve as she started toward them."(116) It is understandable that Briony would be confused, especially after reading the letter.
This wasn't my favorite section of the novel. Except for the obvious - the delivery of that fateful letter - the plot didn't move forward much. In fact this section almost feels like filler, something for McEwan to up his page count with. I didn't feel that it was necessary to dive into the twins' lost socks, and Leon's rowing club. All I wanted was the letter; I knew it was coming, yet McEwan decided to bore me to death before finally giving me the scene I wanted.
The "confrontation" between Briony and Cecelia was the best part of this section. I loved Cecelia's urgings, her growing annoyance, and growing fear. I loved Briony pretending to ignore Cecelia and her attempts to change the subject. I have played both these parts in conversations with my sisters. I understand Cecelia's growing frustration as it becomes clear that Briony won't respond and I understand Briony's innate urge to ignore any confrontation.
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