Within McEwan’s ‘Atonement’, the construct of Cecilia is intentionally
positioned as a victim as a consequence of the novel’s central crime, the
false accusation of Robbie Turner. The novel is deliberately crafted as the
metafictional work of Briony Tallis, whose perspective permeates the
narrative and is surrounded with guilt in her desperate attempt to achieve
atonement. Briony acknowledges her transgressions through the
idealisation of Cecilia as an innocent and admirable figure, portraying her
to the contemporary reader as a true victim of crime. However, it is
possible to uncover that whilst Cecilia maintains the position of a victim,
her vulnerable innocence becomes degraded by her open embrace of
suffering and privilege of her wealthy social class.
It can be argued that Cecilia is positioned as a fated victim through the
repeated motif of water which surrounds her. Allusions to her fate arise
within the second chapter of the novel as Cecilia plunges herself into the
fountain to recover the shattered pieces of the vase. When Cecilia
resurfaces, the water, ‘yet to recover its tranquillity’ is ‘turbulent’ and
driven by the ‘lingering spirit of her fury’. McEwan associates Cecilia with
the motif of water, suggesting that her fate is as uncontrollable and
turbulent as the ‘rolling’ water that she plunges herself into. Her
submergence into the fountain inspires fear of drowning and hopelessness
amplified by Cecilia’s ‘nymph’ like fragility. Chaos and disorder seem to be
perpetuated by the ‘never recovering’ surface, heightening Cecilia as a
tragic victim of the cruelties of her fate. Inevitably, it is revealed that
water consumes Cecilia’s life in ‘London 1999’ as Briony uncovers the
death of Cecilia, killed by a flood which swept Balham Underground
Station in 1940. The consistent symbol of surging water in Cecilia’s life is
emblematic of her inescapable suffering evoking sympathy through the
cyclical nature of her presence in the narrative: introduced through her
conflict at the fountain her young life is consumed by tragedy at the
novel’s conclusion conveying her as a helpless innocent victim.
Conversely, it may be proposed that Cecilia cannot truly represent an
innocent victim of criminal cruelty as she remains complicit in the
transgressions against her ‘lover’. As Briony usurps the role of justice,
Cecilia is diminished by the narrative, distancing herself as she ‘sits apart’
from the conflict. With ‘bloodshot eyes’ and an apparent ‘restlessness’,
Cecilia demonstrates a sense of weakness and a lack of conviction. With
the arrival of Briony, who produces Robbie’s letter as evidence, Cecilia
refuses to dispute the evidence, giving a ‘cry’ as she retreats to her room.
Cecilia’s lack of bravery and courage results in her becoming an
accomplice in Briony’s crime – despite possessing the knowledge to
dispute Briony’s accusation. She maintains a catastrophic silence which
serves as further evidence in support of Robbie’s conviction. Bertens
suggests in his Marxist interpretation the determining of one’s life based
on their economic status. Cecilia’s position as a middle-class woman
endows her with privilege which she is unwilling to sacrifice to elevate
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