Chapter 7
Summary
Chapter 7 is a short chapter that has Briony at the temple that rests on the island in the middle of the manmade lake of the Tallis property. While there, she daydreams about hurting/killing Lola herself as she is beating nettle bushes and imagining them to be Lola; she imagines hurting/killing Lola a few times. In her thoughts, Lola is begging for her to stop, but Briony takes pleasure in denying her mercy. She also imagines the nettles to be her twins, childhood and writing. She says that “three pairs of young nettles were sacrificed” (pg. 70), this was for the twins. She then made a nettle represent playwriting, “several in fact; the shallowness, the wasted time, the messiness of other minds, the hopelessness of pretending” (pg. 70). She then moves on to ridding herself of her childhood, saying she “had no further need for it” (pg. 70).
She also imagines that she is a fencing champion in the Olympics, praising her nettle-slashing technique, and has given up writing altogether. Briony snaps from her daydream and decides to stand on the bridge over the brook and not do anything until something happens to her.
Analysis
One of the motifs in the story, is referenced to again in this chapter: the phrase “come back” that Cecilia used to say to Briony when she would wake from a bad dream when she was younger. (pg. 72)
Briony’s feelings toward Lola become extremely clear during this chapter; although it was obvious before that the two don’t like each other. Briony’s thoughts are frightening, as she daydreams about beating Lola and showing no mercy. When she is talking about the nettles she beats to represent the twins, she uses the word “sacrifice”, which makes it seem that she didn’t really want to hurt/kill them but it was needed because “retribution was indifferent and granted no special favors to children” (pg. 70). She wants to grow up and show people that she is independent and everything that has been happening with the play and Cecilia and Robby made her feel powerless and small. Briony is frustrated with what she’s feeling and she is letting it all out in this chapter.
This chapter shows a lot of the theme of innocence because she is trying to kill her childhood, her “sickly dependency of infancy and early childhood, and the schoolgirl eager to show off and be praised, and the eleven-year-old’s silly pride in her first stories and her reliance on her mother’s good opinion” (pg.70). This shows more of her want for adulthood and shows that she is angry with herself and her innocence.
- In terms of the summary, doesn't she also take Robbie's letter in? And as for the analysis, you might discuss the "come back" issue further, especially as it relates to the themes of perception and the power of the author. You might also mention how her response to a loss of control is to retreat into a fantasy where she can regain that control. Not totally helpful.
Chapter 7 is a short chapter that has Briony at the temple that rests on the island in the middle of the manmade lake of the Tallis property. While there, she daydreams about hurting/killing Lola herself as she is beating nettle bushes and imagining them to be Lola; she imagines hurting/killing Lola a few times. In her thoughts, Lola is begging for her to stop, but Briony takes pleasure in denying her mercy. She also imagines the nettles to be her twins, childhood and writing. She says that “three pairs of young nettles were sacrificed” (pg. 70), this was for the twins. She then made a nettle represent playwriting, “several in fact; the shallowness, the wasted time, the messiness of other minds, the hopelessness of pretending” (pg. 70). She then moves on to ridding herself of her childhood, saying she “had no further need for it” (pg. 70).
She also imagines that she is a fencing champion in the Olympics, praising her nettle-slashing technique, and has given up writing altogether. Briony snaps from her daydream and decides to stand on the bridge over the brook and not do anything until something happens to her.
Analysis
One of the motifs in the story, is referenced to again in this chapter: the phrase “come back” that Cecilia used to say to Briony when she would wake from a bad dream when she was younger. (pg. 72)
Briony’s feelings toward Lola become extremely clear during this chapter; although it was obvious before that the two don’t like each other. Briony’s thoughts are frightening, as she daydreams about beating Lola and showing no mercy. When she is talking about the nettles she beats to represent the twins, she uses the word “sacrifice”, which makes it seem that she didn’t really want to hurt/kill them but it was needed because “retribution was indifferent and granted no special favors to children” (pg. 70). She wants to grow up and show people that she is independent and everything that has been happening with the play and Cecilia and Robby made her feel powerless and small. Briony is frustrated with what she’s feeling and she is letting it all out in this chapter.
This chapter shows a lot of the theme of innocence because she is trying to kill her childhood, her “sickly dependency of infancy and early childhood, and the schoolgirl eager to show off and be praised, and the eleven-year-old’s silly pride in her first stories and her reliance on her mother’s good opinion” (pg.70). This shows more of her want for adulthood and shows that she is angry with herself and her innocence.
- In terms of the summary, doesn't she also take Robbie's letter in? And as for the analysis, you might discuss the "come back" issue further, especially as it relates to the themes of perception and the power of the author. You might also mention how her response to a loss of control is to retreat into a fantasy where she can regain that control. Not totally helpful.