Atonement: The Couple That Never Had A Chance

Atonement2007

Discussions surrounding media and entertainment feature one of the most polarizing subjects of morality. In most of the stories we consume, it's easy to understand who's good and bad. This simple act of categorizing becomes more complicated when you introduce characters with glaring ethical shortcomings. When talking about Atonement, it's impossible to ignore the film's main catalyst, Briony, who makes a series of horrible choices that inevitably ruin the lives of two people. I'm here to deep dive into the two lovers in this unfortunate circumstance and how their lives were turned upside down because of one lie. The one lie that, regardless of social class, personal feelings, or family relations, doomed this relationship the moment it was spread, so much so that even we as viewers believed in it until the very end.

Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner are first introduced as childhood friends who grew up together, now adults in college with lingering feelings for one another, but unable to truly express them due to possible class and familial differences. In contrast to her younger sister, Cecilia has no sense of control over her life, nor does she desire it very much. Throughout Part One of the novel, Cecilia’s thoughts and actions are often at odds with one another.

 She knows she has several options for her next step after Cambridge, but cannot will herself to take them. Even after resolving to move to London and find a job, when Leon offers to let her stay with him in London, Cecilia demurs. Cecilia feels responsible for her family, though she also resents those responsibilities. It is not until she receives Robbie’s note that Cecilia realizes she is in love with him and that her feelings are what have been keeping her from moving forward in life.

Robbie is emblematic of how one’s fate can be determined by social class. As the son of the Tallises’ charlady, Robbie is of a decidedly lower class than the relatively wealthy Tallises. However, having grown up being treated as an equal by Cecilia and Leon and being on the receiving end of Jack Tallis’s generosity, Robbie is never made to feel as though he is less than. This changes when Briony notices the interactions between Cecilia and Robbie. To Briony, Robbie seems at first to fit the archetypal role of the pauper who wins over the maiden. 

Though not much time is spent with Cecilia and Robbie before the unfortunate turn of events transpires, I can wholeheartedly sense the depth of compassion, commitment, and love that both of them have for each other. This love isn't present only in the words they speak to each other; when they do, I can feel how deeply their love is intertwined and forged over the years, evident in their care and selflessness toward each other. Robbie tends to be shy and profoundly polite and respectful toward Cecilia, who remains strong, if not sometimes abrasive or frustrated by Robbie's advances. It's refreshing and somewhat puzzling to see two people who fit each other's personas so well that we are almost convinced the two will end up together and inevitably belong to one another.

Now it's important to note that the majority of this story focuses on the younger sibling of the family, Briony, and the irreversible mistake she makes when she witnesses her sister Cecilia engaging intimately with Robbie, assumes the worst, and blames an unrelated rape incident on him. Without any tangible proof, Briony's bias, resentment, and possibly jealousy of Robbie cause her to frame him for an incident that breaks Cecilia's connection to him forever, or at least until they meet again, according to Briony's perspective. It seems that the essence of Briony's character becomes somewhat of a moral absolute for many viewers who root for the couple. Briony's actions, in the eyes of others, make her character irredeemable, even to those who have morally ambiguous intentions of their own. 

The first thing we see is that Briony is a blossoming storyteller and, most importantly, very young at the beginning of the film. Her family, for the most part, leaves her in an isolated environment, causing a young girl on the cusp of adulthood to try to be more mature and solidify a sense of identity, especially in her writing. As the author of her narrative, Briony aspires to be the one who tells the story and tells it according to her moral perspective. Briony is an orderly yet lonely child who pours all her emotions into her art. 

As a kid, I remember always wanting to be the center of attention which brings us to another interesting aspect of Briony's character which lies in her relationship with empathy. We see that she is very unconcerned with the problems of those around her, only interested in how the things around her will affect her writing. She is unbothered by her cousin's parents' divorce, her parents' struggles during times of war, and most importantly, her sister's turmoil in professing her love for Robbie.

Briony even attempts to jump into a lake, hoping Robbie will save her like a prince. A series of events, resembling a butterfly effect, unfolds: she misreads a note from Robbie, witnesses what she perceives as suspicious behaviour between Cecilia and Robbie, sees their intimate connection, and then witnesses the traumatic assault of her cousin. These events lead Briony to construct a distorted narrative and see herself as the architect of this story.

After the incident, Robbie is arrested and sent to fight in World War I at Dunkirk, while Cecilia’s story becomes a long, sombre epilogue. From the moment the novel shifts focus, we no longer hear Cecilia’s inner thoughts; we are no longer inside her consciousness. We only see her through Robbie’s memories of her letters or Briony’s perspective. We know she breaks ties with her family because of their involvement in prosecuting Robbie. 

We know she becomes a nurse, and through Briony’s lens, we glimpse her growing confidence and the bitterness she feels about her role. We know she never forgets Robbie, and when he is taken away by the police, she says, "I'll wait for you," signing her letters the same way. Importantly, we also know she honours that promise and waits, but we never learn what that waiting truly feels like. It’s as if Briony, who we later learn is the novel’s author, couldn’t bring herself to step inside her sister’s mind. She couldn’t face what became of the girl who once didn’t know herself, only to watch that self fade away. We’ve already established that 13-year-old Briony was somewhat of an egomaniac, but did she truly atone for her mistakes and grow from her past?

Briony decides to become a nurse, and through a series of letters to Cecilia, she proclaims that she wants to be useful to society in a practical way. She works in a hospital under very stressful and horrific circumstances, evidently haunted by her past mistakes and wishing she could make things right. Towards the end of the film, we are given the impression that Robbie and Cecilia have reunited. 

We even see a sequence of Briony visiting their home to apologize and offer to rescind her claims to clear Robbie's name. However, she is promptly told to leave. We get the sense that things are finally looking up for Cecilia and Robbie, they seem to have achieved some form of justice after all the traumatic events they endured. We are almost hopeful, believing they might finally get a second chance. But then, that hope is snatched away.

We later find out that this entire part of the story is entirely fabricated. In reality, Robbie had died from an infection during the war, weeks before the evacuation at Dunkirk, and Cecilia had died shortly after the Blitz. Their love story never got the satisfying closure we were led to believe. Instead, we are left with an overwhelming sense of melancholy and sorrow for the couple who never had the chance to live out their love. We learn this because a 77-year-old Briony, now dying from cancer and an established novelist, reveals in her final book, Atonement, that the events of the story are fictional. 

She constructs a happier ending where Robbie and Cecilia are reunited, justifying this fabrication by saying it would be impossible for her to achieve true atonement in reality. The two people who could truly forgive her are gone, so her attempt at atonement is all that remains. Briony doesn’t get to decide whether she should be forgiven; there is no one left to appeal to. Even in her altered story, she deliberately withholds Robbie and Cecilia's forgiveness for herself. She knows that no amount of writing or contrition can undo what she did.

Why do we like to exaggerate our stories, emphasize the good parts, and magnify the bad? Because these techniques make for a compelling narrative. Our memories are fabricated fragments of the truth, pieces of reality constructed together to fit our sense of identity and worldview. We replay these memories in rehearsed and edited processes because we can't go back in time and fix our regrets. 

In the same way, Briony’s novel seeks to be a representation and preservation of Cecilia and Robbie's love. In this literary form, where there is a final chapter and an end word, their love remains eternal, safe from the realities of truth that only the author knows. Briony’s main mistake, I think, lies in her failure to grasp that other people are as real and as important as herself. Only in a story can you enter different minds and show that they have equal value.

I watched Atonement once and never again, which is an experience many people have with this film due to its heart-wrenching moral conclusion of regret and restitution. Even though the film is hauntingly beautiful and masterfully crafted, I empathize with the notion that sometimes fabrications can be merciful. Without this fictitious story, we would have no proof of Robbie and Cecilia's legacy.