Briony Tallis is a character that has to have the world and its occupants in line with her wishes. By having these high expectations, she sets herself up for failure when people fail to live up to her assumptions of them. This causes her to give a bias and unreliable retelling of her life through the novel Atonement. The self-pity Briony generates for herself drives many of her relationships to breaking point and beyond, therefor she changes the characters, like herself, Cecilia and Robbie, to fit
scene in three different perspectives, in the eyes of young Briony and through Robbie and Cecilia. The scene takes place outside the Tallis estate near a fountain where Cecilia is filling up a vase with water. Robbie offers his assistance but mistakenly drops the vase causing it to shatter to pieces (McEwan 29). The vase was of very sentimental value to the Tallis family and Cecilia is very upset with Robbie. Cecilia undresses in front of Robbie to get into the fountain to pick up the broken pieces
Referring to the novel Atonement by Ian McEwan, 13-year-old Briony Tallis faced these challenges and unfortunately ended up making the mistake of falsely accusing Robbie Turner of rape, which alters his life, hers, and others around her