Atonement

Briony lives in London and trains as a nurse during the early days of World War II. Sister Marjorie Drummond is her authoritarian instructor, and she causes “constant and pervasive anxiety” (163) in most of the trainees. Briony believes that Sister Drummond is too preoccupied to truly punish any of the trainee nurses, including her “loud and jolly” friend Fiona (165). Briony decision to turn down her offer to attend Cambridge and instead move to London and become a nurse still perplexes her. Briony is happy with her decision as it keeps her thoughts occupied, but she is not sure of her motivation. She maintains some distance between herself and her mother as she craves independence and does not want her mother to know about the “lowly work” she does (168). Her mother writes to her about life on the estate, including the evacuated children who are temporarily housed there. After submitting a short story to a magazine, she heard no response and has paused her fiction writing; now, she mostly writes in her journal. Her letters to Cecilia are one-sided. Day-to-day life in the hospital keeps Briony occupied, and she understands that the British defeat in France is causing a great deal of “muted dread” (171) and anxiety among the staff.