How Does Briony End

are able to see that her version of events is distorted due to her looking through a window which symbolises a blurred view and the ability to not see things clearly. We see from that moment on that Robbie is characterised by Briony as a villain. We also observe narrative cuts back in time and these cuts back in time replay events but in greater detail. This shows the viewer that there are large discrepancies between what Briony imagines as the writer and what actually happens. This same narrative cut is utilized again, when Briony interrupts a love scene between Robbie and Cecilia in the library. Briony sees this scene as an act of violence, and attack on her sister and in some ways is trying to protect her. Though she fails to see this as

Briony wants her stories to be a reality so badly that she genuinely believes that Robbie is the rapist as he is also the villain in her stories as well. It’s not until she is 18 and watching the marriage of Lola and Paul Marshall that she actually realises that the person that raped Lola was Paul Marshall and not Robbie. This is done through the use of a flashback to this moment when Briony actually sees the faces of Paul Marshall in the Grotto five years ago. These flashbacks and shifts in narrative perspective become more and more significant as the film proceeds. They not only show events in more detail but they also show the implications of Briony’s lies and deceitfulness. Briony in some places where her lies have the most affect often looks blank of expression which may imply a lack of empathy at this age. Some phcolist say that is a parents duty to help develop such behaviours in children. Though because of adults and parents being obviously absent in Briony’s life and along with her imagination is possible the reason in which she does feel remorse until later in the film when she is grown up and has finally realised the implications of her