We also learn of a dear maternal affection in Cecilia for her younger sister, who shows an enthusiasm for Briony's childish, imaginative mind that Briony perceives as being condescending.
The opening chapters describe her state of living as untidy, taking time to illustrate the unorganized and scattered way in which she lives. Cecilia TallisĬecilia Tallis could be considered the second heroine of "Atonement." She is Briony's older sister by ten years, and suffers in love by the misguided crime of her young sister.Ĭecilia is quite different than her younger sibling. It is during this final chapter that we learn Briony to be the author of our tale. She is being celebrated by her family for her successes as a writer. She also begins to write while in London, and by the end of the book we meet Briony as a 77 year old who has just learned of a terminal illness (vascular dementia). This causes her to trigger a series of events that will have long-lasting and incredibly damaging results for the parties involved.īriony grows up to serve as a nurse in London during World War Two. Bearing witness to a sequence of events between her older sister and the son of their charlady, Briony misinterprets the motives and intentions of adult behavior. Her reality compared to her high-demand vision of life is called nothing but "dreams and frustrations." She entertains a high amount of self pity when she doesn't get what she wants and expects too much from the people and the world around her.īriony is losing her innocence from the moment "Atonement" begins. It is clear to the reader that Briony is a girl with an extended and vivid imagination. When we meet her, she has written a play called "The Trials of Arabella" which she also attempts to star in and direct. The narrator refers to Briony as a little girl whose effective status is as an only child.Įarly on her life, Briony discovers her passion for words and secrets. She was born in 1922 and the only mentioning of her birth states that it was "difficult" and triggered her mother's long illness with migraines and depression.īriony has two older siblings: Leon, who is twelve years older and living in London and Cecilia, who is ten years older and is living at home having just returned from school in Cambridge. When the story begins, Briony is 13 years old (although, I have to say some pages have her at 12 and others at 11, but for the most part, it is determined she is 13 years old on page 109). In essence, she is the author and the story is told through her eyes, although somewhat removed (see "Major Themes" for more on this point).
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Briony is the main character of the book.
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