How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph) or (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #4
[…] Briony was touched by her sister's capacity for forgiveness, if this was what it was. Forgiveness. The word had never meant a thing before, though Briony had heard it exulted at a thousand school and church occasions. And all the time her sister had understood. (1.14.43)
Double back flip irony here. Briony is watching her sister say goodbye to Robbie after he's been arrested. So, in the first place, Cecilia is not forgiving Robbie—she doesn't think he's done anything wrong. And in the second place, Cecilia is actually not particularly interested in forgiveness, as we'll see later in the book.
Quote #5
But I get the impression she's taken on nursing as a sort of penance. She wants to come and see me and talk. I might have this wrong, and that's why I was going to wait and go through this with you face to face, but I think she wants to recant. I think she wants to change her evidence and do it officially or legally. […] She might not think what I think she does, or she might not be prepared to see it through. Remember what a dreamer she is. (2.98)
This is a letter from Cecilia to Robbie. Remember: In the novel, Briony is supposed to have read these letters after Cecilia and Robbie died as part of the research for her novel. So imagine reading a letter in which your sister talked about you like that. "Remember what a dreamer she is." Ouch.
Quote #6
But he did not think his resentment of her could ever be erased. Yes, she was a child at the time, and he did not forgive her. He would never forgive her. That was the lasting damage. (2.217)
It's interesting that the "lasting damage" here is not the being thrown in prison and then having to go off to war and losing your career and being separated from the love of your life. The "lasting damage" is being unable to forgive.