Character relationships

Robbie and Cecilia

The relationship between Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner is central to the plot of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. They are the same age and have known each other since they were children, as Robbie’s mother works as a cleaning lady for the Tallis family, and Robbie often spends time at the Tallis house. Moreover, they both went to Cambridge at the same time but did not spend much time together there. 

At first, Cecilia is aware of the tension and awkwardness between her and Robbie, and their stiff interactions bother her. The conversation between them is stilted, and Cecilia struggles to understand Robbie’s motives as well as her own feelings: 

Was he pretending to be jealous to conceal the fact that he was? Cecilia no longer understood him. They had fallen out of touch at Cambridge. […] He wasn’t offended. She was the one who was over-interpreting and jittery in his presence, and she was annoyed with herself. (Chapter 2, 62%) 

When Robbie accidentally breaks the vase, Cecilia wishes to punish him for his awkwardness around her and to try to show him she is unaffected by him: “He did not exist, he was banished, and this was also [his] punishment” (Chapter 2, 92%). For his part, Robbie does not seem to notice this tension so much prior to this incident. However, after their meeting at the fountain, he suddenly sees Cecilia in a new light, and he realizes he is in love with her. 

From then on, Robbie is consumed by the need to see Cecilia again and dreams about their next meeting: 

The anticipation and dread he felt at seeing her was also a kind of sensual pleasure, and surrounding it, like an embrace was a general elation – it might hurt, it was horribly inconvenient, no good might come of it, but he had found out for himself what it meant to be in l...