Atonement Part 2

Summary - The book takes a total shift and focuses on Robbie as he is a soldier fighting in WWII after his time was served in prison. He is with two men who are with him through the war, Nettle and Mace. They see so much morbid violence and death that they become more numb. Robbie pushes himself to survive because of his lasting love for Cecilia and his longing to spend the rest of his life with her.

While Robbie was in jail, Cecilia cut off all communication with her family. She blamed them for Robbie's false arrest and ultimately, ruining his life and their love. She leaves her family and becomes a nurse. Cecilia and Robbie's love was re-established when he was released from prison. They were hoping to spend some time together after his basic training, but he was immediately sent to the war, leaving them with no time at all and no promise of return. She wrote him often always ending with the quote, "I'll wait for you. Come back." This was Robbie's only motivation for surviving.

Robbie faced many physical and mental obstacles in his time of service. He had gotten a terrible wound in his side but continued to press on despite his pain. That's what all the soldiers had to do. Robbie, Nettle, and Mace were allies that stuck together through all of their missions. They would find shelter and food together. They spent the night in a barn where Robbie relived his short memories of her over and over again in his mind. He also contemplated his hatred for Briony and why she blamed him so adamently. He remembers a moment several summers ago when he was teaching Briony a swimming lesson. She jumped into the water and almost drowned, just so he would save her. Robbie was angry at her and demanded an explantion. She only wanted to see if he would save her because she loved him. He wondered if she still held on to this childish love and became jealous of his love for her sister. Cecilia debates on reuniting with Briony since she wants to become a nurse also, but he doesn't know if his hatred for her will allow it.

Robbie leads Nettle and Mace through some highly dangerous situations. Although, he was sometimes delusional from fever and malnutrition. Numerous planes attacked a village killing many soldiers and civilians, but they somehow survived. They kept pressing on toward the beach, but they saw so much death along the way. I do believe they even saw a march to a concentration camp, if I read that correctly.

The three men make it to a bridge where trucks were handing out luxury items for the soldiers. They realize that they were taking the healthy men to fight in the infantry, so Robbie fake an injury to avoid this fate. They make it to the beach where several soldiers were taking refuge. They all try to take advantage of the food, drink, and lodging to where it led to violence. Mace single handedly saved a RAF representative, (the company that failed to help during the bombing attack). During this rescue Mace was separated from the others. Nettle and Robbie saved a pig in exchange for food and wine. They find shelter to sleep in an abandoned cellar. A boat arrives the next morning and they are on their way back to their normal lives.

Response - So, you were right. Part 2 did make me love Robbie even more. The love between Cecilia and Robbie is precious. She had to be in deep, serious love in order to permanently exclude her family from her life. But in a way, I don't blame her. They did ruin his life, which was so promising, and they did ruin their happines, which was so beautiful.

Robbie's hatred for Briony is completely justified. I do admire him for wanting Cecilia to reunite with her family, though. This proves his love for her is true and he truly wants what's best for her, and he doesn't let his selfish wishes come inbetween that. I wouldn't know how to handle having a relationship with her either.

The stories of all the death and gore of war puts a lot of things into perspective for me. We hear about soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan all the time, but we never really stop and think of the hell they are going through daily. They see so much that people should never have to see in a life time. They also endure so much physical hardship that I know I could never handle. This just gave me a much needed reminder that we all must be more supportive of our armed forces fighting for us right now, whether we agree with the cause or not.

My heart aches for Cecilia. She's made a life of her own while waiting for her true love that may not even return. She's invested so much into an uncertainty, but that's what love does to people. I only hope that Robbie and Cecilia are reunited soon and live the typical story book happily ever after. No characters deserve it more than they do.