Briony's Misunderstandings & Misperceptions

Briony's misunderstandings and misperceptions are what creates the plot of "Atonement".  Briony is a precious 13 year old girl, with a wild imagination.  She is making the transition into adulthood, but her young mind cannot fully grasp what is happening around her.  This is because of psychological development, as well as the scenes she happens to observe, the fountain scene, the letter she reads, the library scene, and the rape scene.  Briony is young, and confused.  She misunderstands and mispercieves these unfortunate situations, this flaw which happens in Atonement, is not her fault.  It is something every child goes through as it is part of the psychological maturing process. Briony tries to understand what is going on in the adult world, but it is impossible for her to grasp the situations which are occuring around her.  In all the scenes that Briony misperceives all the information was not available.  She can see Cecilia and Robbie at the fountain but she cannot hear them, so she proceeds to presume she knows what they were talking about.  Briony then reads the "c word" in the letter, not knowing what it means or the context - she once again tricks herself into thinking she knows exactly what is going on.  She then again sees the scene in the library, but does not know what it means, but perceives it as an attack.  And finally, when she hears Lola being raped, she does not actually see who it was but convinces herself into thinking she knows exactly who it was.  Briony already believes that Robbie is a "sex maniac" because of the fountain scene, the letter and the library scene.  Through a series of misunderstanding, Briony falsely accuses Robbie Turner of raping her cousin, Lola.

Psychological Development of a Child