Blog #3 - Atonement

“One day he might bring home a friend for Cecilia to marry, if three years at Girton had not made her an impossible prospect..she had no job or skill and still had a husband to find and motherhood to confront...a generation later these silly, ignorant ladies would be long dead and still revered at High Table and spoken of in lowered voices,” (McEwan, 61-62).


Emily Tallis’s migraine episode causes her to reflect upon all her kids and their life progress. She thinks lowly of Leon’s career choices and his refusal of a job position, then turns to criticize Cecilia and her accomplishments at Cambridge. I would think a mother would be proud of her daughter for graduating Cambridge with a degree–something that seems very difficult to gain in the 1930s. However, Emily thinks her education is hindering her from what she deems as an essential life goal, being marriage and motherhood. The fact that Cecilia’s mother calls her skilless and her professors, that Cecilia thinks very highly of, ignorant, is quite strange. Although Cecilia might not fit the norm of a young adult in 20th century England, she is well educated and has much more potential in her life than to merely be a mother and a wife. Emily Tallis’s thought processes highlight the differences in the emerging youth culture and her own. The values and lifestyles are different, and it seems as if Emily is uncomfortable that her daughter is not following in her footsteps. It makes me frustrated since Emily fully understands she is not considered a proper mother figure, often hiding in her room to combat the awful migraines she faces. Yet, she has the nerve to be incredibly judgemental of her children’s life choices even though they are progressive. In this portion of Chapter Six, it seems as if Emily is considered all-knowing, looking over the household by her senses, without the need of her physical presence. I wonder if Emily actually knows all of the activities that go on in the household, or if she claims to know, yet does not have the slightest clue of what actually occurs.