Lola

In what ways does Lola fulfill the definitions of her name?

Lola, a short for the Spanish name Dolores, means “sorrows”, which was taken from the title of the Virgin Mary: “Virgen Maria de los Dolores”, “Our Lady of Sorrows”. Lola can also be taken to mean “strong woman”, or alternatively “Lolita” can mean a young girl regarded as femme fatale, or deadly woman by more mature men.

Lola could be considered to mean “sorrows” due to her misfortunes and the misfortunes she plays part in bringing to others. Lola’s parents divorced, and due to violent court cases, the young women was forced travel far from home, with two younger brothers under her care. Additionally, though Lola fails to point to the true criminal, she is raped at fifteen years old by Paul Marshall, even after attempting to escape, as McEwan tries to suggest with the injuries on both Lola and Marshall. While Briony plays the key part in wrongly blaming Robbie for the rape, Lola’s silence did play a large part in bringing misfortunes to Robbie, and resultantly Cecelia and the Tallis family. Thus, Lola fulfills her role of being a woman of “sorrows”, as she encounters sorrow, and brings it to others.

The alternative meaning for Lola as a “strong woman” could also be true in the character presented in Atonement. Though few characters in Atonement meet a kind fate in the end, Lola becomes the wife of wealthy and influential Marshall, while Robbie and Cecelia meet tragic deaths, Briony’s life is consumed by her own guilt, and the rest of the Tallis family wilts away in their suffocating country home. Lola's strength keeps her a woman with hopes and goals, despite traumatising events in her life. Lola’s accomplishment in snaring an older man who had raped her into marriage shows the “Lolita” in her character. Lola is very much “femme fatale”, as her womanly attributes allowed her to marry Paul Marshall, who is likely one of the most eligible men to be found at the time.