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Summary AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B - CRIME WRITING ATONEMENT NOTES - Significance of letters in crime
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AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B - CRIME WRITING ATONEMENT NOTES Significance of letters in crime
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AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE B - CRIME WRITING ATONEMENT NOTES - Context Notes
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Significance of Letters In CrimeMis-delivered re-written letters and other types of communication or a common literary device
that can be found in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Letters and pens are also significant in the plot of
Agatha Christie's the murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Throughout there are many examples of letters playing a significant role in communication or
misunderstandings:
Robbie keeps up his relationship with Cecilia through letters.
Briony later realises that she misunderstood Robbie's intentions with the letter.
Letter from her father stating that Lola and Marshall are getting married.
She writes a letter to Cecilia stating that she wants to take back her confession.
Briony promises to write Robbie letters to clear his name - she never actually does this
therefore does not fully atone. Briony's idea of atoning is stuck in her ideas of being an
author.
When at Cecilia's apartment in Part III an argument breaks out where Robbie insists she
writes 3 letters:
She must write to her parents stating the truth.
She must write to a solicitor.
She must write to Robbie reporting all she had done to restore his reputation - "she
knew what was required of her not a letter, but a new draft, an atonement".
Common feature of novels - Frankenstein and Dracula where the stories are told through a
series of letters and journal entries.
Briony's statement comes after she reads the letter which makes her believe that Robbie
is the rapist. Her testimony rearranges the interpersonal relationships completely.
For the letters correct recipient (Cecilia) the letter acts as a confirmation of what she
already knew. It is successful on her as she takes him to the library where they make
passionate love. For the letters accidental recipient the effects are devastating and lead to
the misunderstanding which is the crime. It would be assumed that the adults in the scene
would understand the letter but do not. Instead the letter appears to have a very different
public significance compared to its private meanings. Publicly it is what endites Robbie.
Privately it sparks Cecilia-Robbie's love.
To the upper class the letter seems distasteful portraying what they would struggle to
communicate - as Emily Tallis struggles to communicate with her husband about the affair
she knows he is having. The word "cunt" is taboo and appears to be such a heavy
expression of sexual passion that the public has to react.
The rigid nature of the legal system comes as a surprise to Briony resulting in the letter
having a lot more power than initially admits.
The consequences of Briony's power become out of reach and lead to drastic events like
Robbie's imprisonment and Cecilia cutting off connections with her family.
Letters represent how literature has entered the fabric of Robbie and Cecilia's lives.
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