First Impressions: Entry Two

Briony Tallis is the first character to be introduced. She has a strong passion for writing that is almost an obsession. The beginning of the story starts out of the development of her voice, or style, through her writing. Her mother serves as a source of encouragement and In the first chapter, Briony struggles over her casting decisions for her play The Trials of Arabella. She is forced to cast her cousins, as no one else is available to act in the play. She regretfully casts her older cousin, Lola Quincey as the main character Arabella. She doesn't want Lola to be Arabella because she subconsciously wanted to be Arabella. She felt that Arabella was herself, with her thoughts and emotions. She thought that Lola and her twin brothers were going to ruin her play. Briony has written the play for her older brother, Leon Tallis and wanted it to give a message for him to settle down and marry through the theme of the play. Leon Tallis is returning home for a visit and is to bring home his friend Paul Marshall. Meanwhile, Briony's older sister Cecelia, struggles with her feelings over the family's childhood friend, Robbie Turner. They have long ignored each other, but all of a sudden, they feel tense and awkward around each other. Cecelia nor Robbie can interpret this uncomfortable relationship. Cecelia is trying to fill the family's valuable antique vase with water over the garden's fountain. Robbie suddenly appears and their conversation evaporate as usual into silence. In an attempt to make up for it, he feels obligated to help her with the vase. A struggle for possession of the vase leads to its breaking and sinking and Cecelia strips down to her underwear in order to retrieve the vase. Robbie stares at her awkwardly when she emerges from the pool of water. All the while, Briony has witnessed this moment and is confused by its meaning. She struggles to understand the motives of her sister suddenly stripping her clothes off in front of Robbie and is uncomfortable with what she has seen. Robbie later contemplates his feelings over her and tries to make amends for breaking the vase. He writes an apology letter, and before he can stop himself, he writes a phrase of sexual intentions. This suggests his subconscious desire to be with Cecelia. He suddenly panics as he realizes that he mistakenly gave this letter to Briony.

From the synopsis on the back of the book, it made it seem like a huge conflict would occur early on in the story, but it was extremely slow in beginning of the book. This was extremely disappointing, because Ian McEwan was recognized as the "Jane Austen" of our era. The only thing that was good about the slow beginning is that Ian McEwan is allowing it to grow so gradually and smoothly that you are so intrigued when the slightest thing happens. The beginning of the story may be the most boring start of a book I have every read, but it surprised me how hooked I was when the first conflict arises between Cecelia and Robbie. Another thing that intrigued me was the fact that I pay more attention to Cecelia and Robbie than to the main character, Briony. Briony comes off as a prima donna to me. Her point of view overdramatized everything that happens. I saw this as a weird way of writing, and kind of boring as everything was overanalyzed and explained to the slightest motive. She analyzes her cousin, Lola to the slightest movement and comes off as slightly cynical. The point of view proved ironic to the events because Briony comes off as knowing everything and the purpose of everything, but she fails to understand why Cecelia had to strip down and dive into the pool. This was surprising how innocent and naive that she is. One part of the story that I liked was when Robbie expressed a desire for Cecelia. This was a classic tale of an awkward childhood friendship developing into a love story. I found this a refreshing part of the story, because I enjoy a cliche tale now and then, but it was also unique. Robbie had a unique way of expressing his feelings for her because at first it was just insinuated from his actions and it was quite obvious that they had some sort of romantic tension. It was so relieving, like the suspense has disappeared, to finally see that they are moving up in their relationship status. Robbie's freudian slip in his letter shows his shy personality, and it has made me grow fond of him. He also gives off the feeling of innocence. When I think of Robbie, I think of a shy, cute man who fumbles upon his words and can't talk to the girl he likes. I think it's adorable and I can't wait to see where the story is going. Ian McEwan's writing style finally works with the scene, as it shows Robbie's thought process in writing the letter. The deep analysis of the character's mind is very clever and has given the biggest insight on a character's personality in a book I've read so far.

I predict that Briony will definitely read the letter that Robbie has shown her. Briony is such a curious character, and this is very apparent in the way she observes everything. She will read the letter, and with her cynic nature and naive personality, she would misinterpret it. She would probably lose her respect for Robbie, taking the letter as perverted and creepy. She won't realize that it was the id of Robbie's consciousness to take over and it was just a simple mistake. I also predict that Cecelia will also realize her feelings for Robbie, because she is just as tense as he is around her. I believe that it is not just an infatuation, that it is love. The evidence I have for this is the way they think about each other, in the way that they think to the tiniest detail about each other's physique, actions, and personality. Robbie admires her blemishes and Cecelia loves his eyes. They are both very self-conscious around each other and over think the situation when their conversations are awkward. They also have known each other for their entire life, and they have suddenly began to notice each other with some romantic tension. This shows that they have a deeper connection and they already know each other well. I'm excited to see how the course of events will continue.