Relationships in Atonement essays

Relationships in Atonement essays In Atonement, there are many things that are broken and never mended. The greatest tragedy of all these is Briony breaking Lola's silence thus sending Robbie to jail. Robbie and Cecilia's relationship is doomed from the beginning and they never get the chance to experience their love. Briony breaks Lola's silence and accuses Robbie of being the culprit of Lola's rape. Once the silence has been broken, Briony's lies cannot be withdrawn and Briony's words have an effect on the rest of Robbie's life. Briony tries to make amends in her fictionalised section of the novel by going to the solicitor and retracting her official statement. But as this is the fictionalised section of the novel, the retracting and clearing of Robbie's name never takes place. The vase plays a large role in the novel. It is the dispute over the vase that causes Robbie and Cecilia to realise how they feel about each other. During this dispute, the vase is actually broken. The vase is artificially fixed thus the vase is never mended properly. This is similar to Robbie and Cecilia's relationship. Briony's lies and Lola and Paul's silence cause Robbie and Cecilia's relationship to break and because of the war, it does not get the chance to mend. The vase is totally destroyed by the maid later in the novel and one could see this as Robbie and Cecilia's relationship being unfixable which is true because they die before they can continue with their relationship. Cecilia breaks all ties with her family after Robbie is arrested and accused of Lola's rape. Cecilia is certain that Robbie is innocent and that Danny Hardman is the culprit. Cecilia never mends her relationship with her family and never forgives Briony for the lies she tells. Lola's body is broken when Paul Marshall rapes her. Her virginity is broken and it can never be mended. Robbie's body is damaged when the shrapnel lodged into his leg. Robbie actually dies from the poisoning from the shrapnel. Lola a...