Chapter 24
Summary:
There wasn’t much happening at the hospital so Briony and Fiona were walking along the river and through the park. They see how the war has changed the scenery, posters, warnings, uniforms etc. Briony worries about France and she is certain that Germany is going to beat Britain and she’s imagining how while Fiona talks about her little brother. Briony wonders where Robbie is and what Cecilia would do if they couldn’t be together again. They passed by a café to get water and saw a band playing songs (they weren’t really good); they sat outside gossiping about work and Fiona cheered Briony up from her bad mood. They then went to walk back to the hospital. As they got closer to the hospital they saw it was surrounded by ambulances and wounded soldiers. They ran to the hospital and got to work right away. Briony helped a doctor bring a man upstairs in a stretcher. Briony described this day as the “the moment the war touched her life”. Briony went back outside to see where she could help and saw that all the soldiers were being brought inside. She was tasked with showing the soldiers to her ward so she goes to look for the ward sister because that’s what etiquette required her to do. When she didn’t find Sister Drummond in her office she told all the soldiers who followed her to wait and that the sister would get beds for them. To her horror they all just chose a bed and got in it without following the required procedure. As Briony was trying to get the men to follow procedure the ward sister came in and told her that “procedures are for later”. She then left and went back to her own ward which was now the overflow. Briony then was sent to undress a man’s wounds and she had to be happy and pretend it wasn’t bad when it really was. When she finished that she made sure the men didn’t get dehydraded and gave them water. Then she was sent to pull shrapnel out of another man’s leg; this man yelled profanities when it happened and was reprimanded by the sister for it. She was then tasked with redressing the wounds of Private Latimer whose face had been mangled. After dressing his wounds she gave him water and moved on to the next soldier, Corporal MacIntyre, who was burned horribly. The nurse who was already there sent her away; later Briony sees the nurse crying in the hallway and knows that MacIntyre is dead. They worked for twelve hours without rest. Briony feels that all she had learned in nursing school had prepared her for that event but “everything she understood about nursing she learned that night”. When she finally went to go find sister Drummond she was making one of the beds. When Briony went to help the sister, Drummond said that she remembered that Briony spoke a bit of French and told her to go sit and talk with a French soldier. This soldier, Luc Cornet, was only eighteen and spoke to Briony as if he had known her for his entire life. When Luc is telling stories of the past Briony tried to correct him and tell him that she’s not anyone he knows. Luc asks Briony to loosen his bandages and when she does she learns that a side of Luc’s head is missing and that his brain is jutting out of his head. From then on she just agrees with what he says and makes him happy. Luc jerks suddenly and falls forward Briony jumps up to catch him and as she sets him back down she tells Luc her real name, she tells him to call her Briony not Tallis. (Luc died there). After that Briony went to clean up and met Fiona to get ready for bed. When she entered her room she saw a letter on the floor and she opened it. It was a letter from Horizons which talked about her novella “Two Figures by a Fountain” and they comment on her writing. They tell her that they don’t publish novellas but they would possibly publish something of hers if it were a short story. They also told her that she used “Mrs. Woolf” techniques. He talks about how he would change the story in order to make it better.
Analysis
This is the first time Briony experiences the war in person, and she is thrown for a complete loop. Similar to part one, she is confused and doesn’t understand what is happening but tries to do the best she can but it always turns out to be the wrong thing. Showing us how older Briony is still the same girl from part one. At the same time she is growing as the chapter goes on, she makes less mistakes and becomes more confident, which shows her overall growth in the book and her ability to change, grow and eventually understand others.
Her last patient of the day, a French soldier who has half his brain blown out. This patient in particular, seemed to affect her the most. He caused a great shift for Briony in the book. The encounter made her realize countless things. She came to the reality that Robbie could die in France before she is able to atone for her grave mistake. Luc Cornet, the French soldier, also caused Briony to have an epiphany on her fundamental question; are others as real as she is? Luc Cornet was the first person she had true empathy for; a significant step for Briony who was never been able to feel sorry for anyone before let alone understanding what Luc was going through. It should be noted that Briony is writting and so she mightve made this chapter up so we see that she is still growing as a person and in the right direction so we in turn are more will to allow Briony her atonement latter on in the book.
At the end of this chapter Briony receives a letter about her novel, Two Figures by a Fountain. All the changes suggested in the letter can be seen in the book, Atonement, which again shows that Briony is the one who wrote the entire book. The letter also hints that Briony will/might become a great short story writter, doing what she loves.
- Great, really thorough summary. The analysis brings up important points, as well, though you could describe in much greater detail her encounter with Luc and what it means for her (since you mention in your analysis of her character that it's one of the big moments in her development). You should also talk about (here, not in Chapter 22 - sorry about that) the feedback she gets. The point of this analysis is to help us understand without us having to have the book right next to us, so instead of telling us to read it, do your best to substitute for such a reading :)
- And in looking at this chapter, I'm reminded to tell you to strive for the relatively formal language of SparkNotes.
There wasn’t much happening at the hospital so Briony and Fiona were walking along the river and through the park. They see how the war has changed the scenery, posters, warnings, uniforms etc. Briony worries about France and she is certain that Germany is going to beat Britain and she’s imagining how while Fiona talks about her little brother. Briony wonders where Robbie is and what Cecilia would do if they couldn’t be together again. They passed by a café to get water and saw a band playing songs (they weren’t really good); they sat outside gossiping about work and Fiona cheered Briony up from her bad mood. They then went to walk back to the hospital. As they got closer to the hospital they saw it was surrounded by ambulances and wounded soldiers. They ran to the hospital and got to work right away. Briony helped a doctor bring a man upstairs in a stretcher. Briony described this day as the “the moment the war touched her life”. Briony went back outside to see where she could help and saw that all the soldiers were being brought inside. She was tasked with showing the soldiers to her ward so she goes to look for the ward sister because that’s what etiquette required her to do. When she didn’t find Sister Drummond in her office she told all the soldiers who followed her to wait and that the sister would get beds for them. To her horror they all just chose a bed and got in it without following the required procedure. As Briony was trying to get the men to follow procedure the ward sister came in and told her that “procedures are for later”. She then left and went back to her own ward which was now the overflow. Briony then was sent to undress a man’s wounds and she had to be happy and pretend it wasn’t bad when it really was. When she finished that she made sure the men didn’t get dehydraded and gave them water. Then she was sent to pull shrapnel out of another man’s leg; this man yelled profanities when it happened and was reprimanded by the sister for it. She was then tasked with redressing the wounds of Private Latimer whose face had been mangled. After dressing his wounds she gave him water and moved on to the next soldier, Corporal MacIntyre, who was burned horribly. The nurse who was already there sent her away; later Briony sees the nurse crying in the hallway and knows that MacIntyre is dead. They worked for twelve hours without rest. Briony feels that all she had learned in nursing school had prepared her for that event but “everything she understood about nursing she learned that night”. When she finally went to go find sister Drummond she was making one of the beds. When Briony went to help the sister, Drummond said that she remembered that Briony spoke a bit of French and told her to go sit and talk with a French soldier. This soldier, Luc Cornet, was only eighteen and spoke to Briony as if he had known her for his entire life. When Luc is telling stories of the past Briony tried to correct him and tell him that she’s not anyone he knows. Luc asks Briony to loosen his bandages and when she does she learns that a side of Luc’s head is missing and that his brain is jutting out of his head. From then on she just agrees with what he says and makes him happy. Luc jerks suddenly and falls forward Briony jumps up to catch him and as she sets him back down she tells Luc her real name, she tells him to call her Briony not Tallis. (Luc died there). After that Briony went to clean up and met Fiona to get ready for bed. When she entered her room she saw a letter on the floor and she opened it. It was a letter from Horizons which talked about her novella “Two Figures by a Fountain” and they comment on her writing. They tell her that they don’t publish novellas but they would possibly publish something of hers if it were a short story. They also told her that she used “Mrs. Woolf” techniques. He talks about how he would change the story in order to make it better.
Analysis
This is the first time Briony experiences the war in person, and she is thrown for a complete loop. Similar to part one, she is confused and doesn’t understand what is happening but tries to do the best she can but it always turns out to be the wrong thing. Showing us how older Briony is still the same girl from part one. At the same time she is growing as the chapter goes on, she makes less mistakes and becomes more confident, which shows her overall growth in the book and her ability to change, grow and eventually understand others.
Her last patient of the day, a French soldier who has half his brain blown out. This patient in particular, seemed to affect her the most. He caused a great shift for Briony in the book. The encounter made her realize countless things. She came to the reality that Robbie could die in France before she is able to atone for her grave mistake. Luc Cornet, the French soldier, also caused Briony to have an epiphany on her fundamental question; are others as real as she is? Luc Cornet was the first person she had true empathy for; a significant step for Briony who was never been able to feel sorry for anyone before let alone understanding what Luc was going through. It should be noted that Briony is writting and so she mightve made this chapter up so we see that she is still growing as a person and in the right direction so we in turn are more will to allow Briony her atonement latter on in the book.
At the end of this chapter Briony receives a letter about her novel, Two Figures by a Fountain. All the changes suggested in the letter can be seen in the book, Atonement, which again shows that Briony is the one who wrote the entire book. The letter also hints that Briony will/might become a great short story writter, doing what she loves.
- Great, really thorough summary. The analysis brings up important points, as well, though you could describe in much greater detail her encounter with Luc and what it means for her (since you mention in your analysis of her character that it's one of the big moments in her development). You should also talk about (here, not in Chapter 22 - sorry about that) the feedback she gets. The point of this analysis is to help us understand without us having to have the book right next to us, so instead of telling us to read it, do your best to substitute for such a reading :)
- And in looking at this chapter, I'm reminded to tell you to strive for the relatively formal language of SparkNotes.