Chapter 16
Summary
This chapter starts out where Turner, Mace and Nettle are going to bunk in the French woman's barn. Turner begins to reflect on his life, beginning with this time in prison. His thoughts morph into the letters that Cecilia sent him during his time there. He remembers how Cecilia wrote that she cut herself off from her family and how the letters between himself and his lover had to be censored in the prison. He then contemplates his feelings during the meeting with Cecilia after he is released. Turner recalls how awkward the conversation was because so much was written in the letters that neither of them had anything to say to each other in person.
Turner remininisce about the uncensored letters between them during his training for the war. An important aspect to the context is that the world was beginning to realize that a war would soon break and that they had to to do everything in their power to prepare. Back to the plot, Cecilia had not yet spoken to her parents and Turner realizes that she should speak to her family because her parents were getting older and if one of them passed, she would feel such guilt from not making amends with her parents, whom she still loved.
Turner resights in his mind Cecilia's last letter to him, which is speaking about how Briony wants to be a nurse and she also wants to reconsile with Cecilia, although
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The chapter opens with Robbie laying on his back in the French barn, thinking. He thinks first about his leg wound, throbbing and uncomfortable, before quickly moving his thoughts towards the French boy asleep in his bed, introduced in the previous chapter, and the mechanic, inhuman nature of that shelling that killed him. Again, Robbie’s thoughts change, this time to his years in prison. He compares his prison experience to his war experience, coming to the conclusion that war, even with its many horrors, is much preferable to the “stupidity and claustrophobia” of prison. Finally, his thoughts turn to Cecilia, and the hope of returning home alive.
Unable to sleep, Robbie gets up and leaves the barn to relieve himself. Watching the flashes of weapons in the sky, he touches his pocket, feeling the most recent letter from Cecilia. Briefly, he thinks about the prospect of being a prisoner of war, and briefly entertains the idea of slipping away in the night and leaving his two companions, Mace and Nettle, to fend for themselves. He decides against it, however, and returns to the barn. From here, the rest of the chapter is devoted entirely to thoughts and events regarding Cecilia.
First, Robbie reminisces on his first, and only, meeting with Cecilia after being released from prison. The description of the memory is prefaced with a description of the couple’s written interaction while Robbie was in prison. Censored from any affectionate or passionate language, the two expressed their love through references to literary characters. The meeting itself, taking place at “Joe Lyons teahouse in the Strand in 1939”, was initially awkward and strained, not all that dissimilar to the scene at the fountain in chapter two. Inside the café, their conversation and interaction was surface and common. At the bus stop where Cecilia was to leave, however, the two shared a passionate kiss, the understated physical release of three and half years of understated passion.
After the kiss at the bus stop, and still in the past, the two continued to write, discussing the details of their daily routines and planning for their next meeting. Robbie wrote about his time in the infantry, while Cecilia wrote about her time as a nurse. The couple arranged to coordinate leave time and spend two weeks together in a cottage in Wilshire. The third major theme of their letters was Cecilia’s family. After Robbie’s arrest and conviction, Cecilia shunned her family, discontinuing all contact. In response to Robbie’s worries over the subject, Cecilia explains that she could not accept both him and her family, and that her choice was clear.
Due to the impending war, Robbie’s leave time was postponed, and the couple’s Wilshire dream never came to realization. Robbie was shipped out to France shortly after.
The chapter ends with a final letter from Cecilia in which she describes a letter she received from her sister, Briony. She tells Robbie that Briony has expressed remorse of her decision and has decided to become a nurse instead of going to Cambridge, cutting off most contact from her family in the process. She expresses hope for an official recant of Briony’s testimony, and of repairing relations with her family. She ends the letter as she does all of her letters, with the words “come back”.
Analysis
This chapter is concerned most primarily with providing exposition and context on the time in between parts 1 and 2 of the book. Through the description of the meeting at the café and bus stop, as well as the letters, the author provides details on Robbie’s time in prison and the infantry, Cecilia’s time as a nurse, and the maintenance of the couple’s relationship during these times.
The first page serves to establish a connection between Robbie’s wound and death, through the juxtaposition of the description of the wound and the description of the French boy’s death. This in turn serves to reinforce the greater body of evidence that Robbie dies at Bray Dunes and never makes it back to England. The willful misinterpretation of this evidence is one of the ways the author of Atonement makes the read implicit in the act of misreading events in order to suit one’s own preferred reality – a major theme of the novel and the cause for Briony’s misplaced accusal of Robbie.
The description of the “indifference” in which the French boy was killed illustrates Robbie’s struggle with the dehumanization that is inherent to war.
In comparing prison to war, and concluding that war is preferable, Robbie fleshes out and characterizes his time in prison. During this comparison, it is shown that Robbie’s main gripe with life in prison was the lack of potential for progress and change, stemming from an inability to control even the most minute aspects of his life. This control struggle is central to Robbie, and many of his thoughts and actions later in the book are concerned with regaining control of his life and negating the control exacted upon him since his prosecution, both in prison and in the war. This is seen later in the book in his desire to simply pick up where he left off, as if that external control had never been.
With Cecilia’s last letter comes an important thematic plot development: the first overt sign of Briony’s guilt and desire for atonement.
- Your summary could be a little more developed, especially in that it should mention each of the issues you bring up in your analysis. That way, we can see the full context of the insights you provide in the latter section. Your analysis is very good and, as I implied in my previous comment, detailed. Those details should be unified, I think, into something clearer -- the parts about Robbie's struggle in war, for instance, could help us understand his overwhelming desire to be with Cecilia and hint at the impossibility of its fulfillment. In this way, the chapter's pretty sad.
This chapter starts out where Turner, Mace and Nettle are going to bunk in the French woman's barn. Turner begins to reflect on his life, beginning with this time in prison. His thoughts morph into the letters that Cecilia sent him during his time there. He remembers how Cecilia wrote that she cut herself off from her family and how the letters between himself and his lover had to be censored in the prison. He then contemplates his feelings during the meeting with Cecilia after he is released. Turner recalls how awkward the conversation was because so much was written in the letters that neither of them had anything to say to each other in person.
Turner remininisce about the uncensored letters between them during his training for the war. An important aspect to the context is that the world was beginning to realize that a war would soon break and that they had to to do everything in their power to prepare. Back to the plot, Cecilia had not yet spoken to her parents and Turner realizes that she should speak to her family because her parents were getting older and if one of them passed, she would feel such guilt from not making amends with her parents, whom she still loved.
Turner resights in his mind Cecilia's last letter to him, which is speaking about how Briony wants to be a nurse and she also wants to reconsile with Cecilia, although
-------------------------
The chapter opens with Robbie laying on his back in the French barn, thinking. He thinks first about his leg wound, throbbing and uncomfortable, before quickly moving his thoughts towards the French boy asleep in his bed, introduced in the previous chapter, and the mechanic, inhuman nature of that shelling that killed him. Again, Robbie’s thoughts change, this time to his years in prison. He compares his prison experience to his war experience, coming to the conclusion that war, even with its many horrors, is much preferable to the “stupidity and claustrophobia” of prison. Finally, his thoughts turn to Cecilia, and the hope of returning home alive.
Unable to sleep, Robbie gets up and leaves the barn to relieve himself. Watching the flashes of weapons in the sky, he touches his pocket, feeling the most recent letter from Cecilia. Briefly, he thinks about the prospect of being a prisoner of war, and briefly entertains the idea of slipping away in the night and leaving his two companions, Mace and Nettle, to fend for themselves. He decides against it, however, and returns to the barn. From here, the rest of the chapter is devoted entirely to thoughts and events regarding Cecilia.
First, Robbie reminisces on his first, and only, meeting with Cecilia after being released from prison. The description of the memory is prefaced with a description of the couple’s written interaction while Robbie was in prison. Censored from any affectionate or passionate language, the two expressed their love through references to literary characters. The meeting itself, taking place at “Joe Lyons teahouse in the Strand in 1939”, was initially awkward and strained, not all that dissimilar to the scene at the fountain in chapter two. Inside the café, their conversation and interaction was surface and common. At the bus stop where Cecilia was to leave, however, the two shared a passionate kiss, the understated physical release of three and half years of understated passion.
After the kiss at the bus stop, and still in the past, the two continued to write, discussing the details of their daily routines and planning for their next meeting. Robbie wrote about his time in the infantry, while Cecilia wrote about her time as a nurse. The couple arranged to coordinate leave time and spend two weeks together in a cottage in Wilshire. The third major theme of their letters was Cecilia’s family. After Robbie’s arrest and conviction, Cecilia shunned her family, discontinuing all contact. In response to Robbie’s worries over the subject, Cecilia explains that she could not accept both him and her family, and that her choice was clear.
Due to the impending war, Robbie’s leave time was postponed, and the couple’s Wilshire dream never came to realization. Robbie was shipped out to France shortly after.
The chapter ends with a final letter from Cecilia in which she describes a letter she received from her sister, Briony. She tells Robbie that Briony has expressed remorse of her decision and has decided to become a nurse instead of going to Cambridge, cutting off most contact from her family in the process. She expresses hope for an official recant of Briony’s testimony, and of repairing relations with her family. She ends the letter as she does all of her letters, with the words “come back”.
Analysis
This chapter is concerned most primarily with providing exposition and context on the time in between parts 1 and 2 of the book. Through the description of the meeting at the café and bus stop, as well as the letters, the author provides details on Robbie’s time in prison and the infantry, Cecilia’s time as a nurse, and the maintenance of the couple’s relationship during these times.
The first page serves to establish a connection between Robbie’s wound and death, through the juxtaposition of the description of the wound and the description of the French boy’s death. This in turn serves to reinforce the greater body of evidence that Robbie dies at Bray Dunes and never makes it back to England. The willful misinterpretation of this evidence is one of the ways the author of Atonement makes the read implicit in the act of misreading events in order to suit one’s own preferred reality – a major theme of the novel and the cause for Briony’s misplaced accusal of Robbie.
The description of the “indifference” in which the French boy was killed illustrates Robbie’s struggle with the dehumanization that is inherent to war.
In comparing prison to war, and concluding that war is preferable, Robbie fleshes out and characterizes his time in prison. During this comparison, it is shown that Robbie’s main gripe with life in prison was the lack of potential for progress and change, stemming from an inability to control even the most minute aspects of his life. This control struggle is central to Robbie, and many of his thoughts and actions later in the book are concerned with regaining control of his life and negating the control exacted upon him since his prosecution, both in prison and in the war. This is seen later in the book in his desire to simply pick up where he left off, as if that external control had never been.
With Cecilia’s last letter comes an important thematic plot development: the first overt sign of Briony’s guilt and desire for atonement.
- Your summary could be a little more developed, especially in that it should mention each of the issues you bring up in your analysis. That way, we can see the full context of the insights you provide in the latter section. Your analysis is very good and, as I implied in my previous comment, detailed. Those details should be unified, I think, into something clearer -- the parts about Robbie's struggle in war, for instance, could help us understand his overwhelming desire to be with Cecilia and hint at the impossibility of its fulfillment. In this way, the chapter's pretty sad.