Atonement Part 1

“No one was holding Cecilia back, no one would care particularly if she left. It wasn’t the torpor that kept her- she was often restless to the point of irritability. She simply liked to feel that she was prevented from leaving, that she was needed” (McEwan 20).

I find Cecilia as a character intriguing. I feel like she wants to leave her family but feels as though she has an obligation to stay. I also feel like there may be something or someone that is holding her back from leaving. I also feel like she may want to leave because of the obligations that are put on her as the older sister. I also feel like she may be jealous of Briony being skilled in writing plays. The person that I think could be holding Cecilia back is Robbie. The way she spoke about them going to university together and the way she spoke about him smoking made it seem like she had feelings for him. Also, how she deliberately went another way to avoid him and get into her house could be evidence of this. I feel like she also may feel that she isn’t getting enough attention. I am interested to see if throughout the book she seeks this attention.