INTRODUCTION
In Brooklyn, Toibin depicts the Lacey family’s ambiguous (mixed) immigration experience that leads to both loss and sadness but also renewal and opportunity. Set in Ireland in the 1950s, the main protagonist, Eilis Lacey, is restricted by her socially conservative environment and conforms to expectations that limit her happiness. However, within these restrictions she does find a degree of autonomy and makes some limited choices that improve her wellbeing and her chances.
The immigration experience is characterised by a sense of loss.
Toibin suggests that the immigration experience involves loss, sadness and regret.
Brooklyn – characterised by loss, foreignness
Eilis’ experiences in Brooklyn are characterised by what she has lost in migrating to America. Through the setting, Toibin metaphorically portrays Eilis’ lack of solidity and substance in Brooklyn. Her room in Mrs Kehoe’s house becomes a “tomb”, where she feels that she’s a “ghost”. She feels as if the room “has nothing to do with her”. By contrast, she still feels a sense of connection with Ireland and her home on Friary Street was “solid and a part of her”. Here, she was “nobody” in America, owing to her lack of familiar connections. In many ways, “home” becomes a state of mind, and even Eilis realises that her sense of being “trapped” and “shut away somewhere” in a place that almost seemed like “hell”, reflects how she feels. “It was all in her mind”. Toibin uses letters to represent Eilis’ sense of absence and homesickness. In her letters, she cannot imagine telling her mother about her terrible bouts of seasickness on the ship owing to the “worst storm in years” or her distaste of her room. They are a sign that life in Brooklyn lacks familiarity. For example, she struggles to “find bread anywhere that she liked”, and even “the tea and milk tasted strange”.
In her own selfless way, Eilis’s mother seems to make the ultimate sacrifice by allowing her only remaining daughter to return to Brooklyn with minimal emotional fuss. In this regard, Toibin depicts the mother’s inexpressible sorrow in understated or minimalist ways and readers are encouraged to imagine the incredible depth of her loss through her subtle gestures and stoic facade. After having encouraged the boys and then Eilis to immigrate, Mrs Lacey ends up alone. She foreshadows her pain when Eilis leaves, “it’ll kill (her) when she goes”. In order to spare Eilis the sorrow and guilt associated with her return, she tries to minimise the pain and regret. With a “great weariness” she retires for bed and says her farewell in an exceptionally unemotional way. Eilis “could see from the look in her eyes how much effort she was putting into saying as little as possible of what she felt”. Toibin describes her final departure from the room as “slow and dignified and deliberate” which stoically and “with all the pride she could muster” conceals the extent of her “inexpressible sorrow”. By keeping the bedroom door closed, she makes it easier for Eilis to return to the new life that she appears to have chosen for herself.
Emigration experience is about loss; Through her surreptitious actions, Eilis dints his chance of marriage and thereby of happiness, which reinforces the magnitude of his loss. He reveals his attraction to Eilis, even despite the initial snub, and entertains expectations of a romantic liaison. Enamoured by /impressed by her newfound glamour, Toibin depicts Jim’s emotional attachment is possibly even stronger. It is no surprise that he hopes that they can get “engaged” becomes strongly attracted to Eilis ive . Jim’s loss/lack of communication/understanding/: Jim Farrell is also a victim of Eilis’s immigration experience, which becomes evident during the parallel dance scenes which focus on their misunderstandings. Eilis’ return to Enniscorthy gives him hope that he might be able to repair the damage caused during their encounter at the ball. If he let her go in the first place, it was, he explains, to protect himself from rejection after his failed relationship with Alison Prendergast. However, upon Eilis’ return Jim entertains expectations about a shared future. He hopes that they might “get engaged” before Eilis returns to Brooklyn to organise her affairs. He admits, “I mean, if I lost you this time, ‘well I don’t know how to put it, but …” (240/251) In many ways, Toibin uses Nancy’s marriage to foreshadow a possible happy reunion. Eilis imagines “his hurt”, especially as he has every right to think that “she had led him on”. She imagines he would urge her to get a divorce and “attempt her to stay”. (260) Sadly, Eilis leaves without giving Jim a chance to dissuade her.
Brooklyn provides opportunities for personal development and growth
Bartoccis = professional advancement
Characters such as Father Flood pave the way for a new life based on the assimilation of new experiences and the adaption of new cultures. His accent is a mixture of “Irish and American” foreshadowing the Italian-American boyfriend, Tony, who will become part of Eilis’s life. Her funds her studies and her experience on Bartocci’s helps her develop confidence.
“In Bartocci’s she had learned to be brave and decisive with the customers” (118)
(Tobin suggests that Eilis copes with loss through the search for new opportunities/personal development) Toibin also shows that Eilis does enjoy a certain amount of freedom and has the courage to source out new opportunities and take professional and emotional risks.)
Brooklyn gradually becomes Eilis’ substitute home, and offers her opportunities to forge a more independent future. Her night classes become central to her transformation. They allow her to expand her knowledge through the law books which she buys for her classes. In contrast to her work at Miss Kelly’s in Enniscorthy, Eilis’s has professional opportunities at her new workplace. Rather than being an object of derision, she becomes a valued member of the Bartocci workforce and accordingly her confidence grows. “In Bartocci’s she had learned to be brave and decisive with the customers” and the book-keeping course gives her the poise and confidence to approach one of her lecturers, Mr Rosenblum, and question him about the books. Studying at nights makes her as “happy as she had been since she had left home” and Miss Bartocci promises her that she would be considered for a position as junior bookkeeper as soon as a vacancy appears. Her new opportunities become a symbolic reflection of her desire to explore her professional and academic opportunities in America. Her growth is reflected in her growing attachment to her room and its increasing familiarity. “Eilis loved her room, loved putting her books at the table opposite the window when she came in at night.” She undertakes a two-year book-keeping course at Brooklyn College so that she can graduate from the shop floor to an office position.
Brooklyn – a place of renewal opportunity – more brave
Eilis’s choices/fate/decisions
The motivation and impetus to emigrate to Brooklyn quietly overtakes Eilis as a foregone conclusion, arranged by others, and in response to her circumstances.
It would seem that Eilis has little opportunity in Enniscorthy in 1950s socially conservative Ireland. She has limited professional experiences and her job at Miss Kelly’s is insecure. It also appears as if she has limited romantic possibilities following the “snub” from Jim Farrell. Nancy’s comment about their future as “wallflowers” reinforces their lack of romantic choices.
Eilis’s lack of opportunities is also reinforced by Jim Farrell’s personal snub at the dance at the Athenaeum, where he “imperiously glanced around the hall, ignoring her”. Eilis feels ashamed and leaves with “as much dignity as she could”. This hints at the fact that Rose and her mother believe that she will not find a suitor.
Romantically, Eilis appears destined to become just a “wallflower”. Jack around him “imperiously” at the dance, and Eilis does indeed feel like a “wallflower” as Nancy predicted. Eilis feels affronted because of “the rudeness of Jim Farrell”.
Father Flood is invited to the house for tea, and Eilis soon realises, the invitation has a more significant purpose. (She is not present during the discussions; she “quietly left the room” and before she is fully aware of his important visit, she knows that “it had somehow been tacitly arranged that Eilis would go to America. Father Flood, she believed, had been invited to the house because Rose knew that he could arrange it”.
Ironically, the silence that surround his visit leads Eilis to conclude that Rose and her mother were “in favour of it”. (“She had never considered going to America.”)
The fact that they, in conjunction with Father Flood, “tacitly arranged” that Eilis would migrate to Brooklyn undermines her right to choose, and also reflects a woman’s limited opportunities in Ireland during the 1950s. Although Eilis would not “allow herself to conclude that she did not want to go”, there is still a part of her that feels that “she was being singled out for something for which she was not in any way prepared”. Eilis, however, dutifully accepts the decision to immigrate.
Foreshadowing devices (also the aspect of personal change and Eilis’ growing independence): (poised, confident, self-assured; sophisticated; glamorous)
Ship and Jack: Before her departure, Eilis settles in Jack’s room. Jack says, initially, he would have “done anything to go home”, but reminds Eilis that there are advantages. “But now I’m used to it, and I like my wage packet and my independence.” – Jack; page 36
Through the foreshadowing characterisation of Georgina, readers gain a sense that Eilis will have a degree of freedom and some opportunities. Eilis’s independence is foreshadowed on the ship, which stands for her metaphorical personal journey, where she becomes “answerable to no one”. She shares a cabin with Georgina, who is suitably sophisticated, forthright and wise. Upon embarking with a “thin cake of make-up” and some advice from Georgina, Eilis already “seemed older and, she thought, almost good-looking”. Her glance in the mirror symbolically reinforces her growing self-awareness and she becomes “surprised” at her potential for beauty. Later when she tries on the new bathing costume that she will wear on her visit with Tony to Coney Island, Eilis’ sensuality is made apparent as Miss Fortini admires her feminine figure. When she finally returns to Enniscorthy after Rose’s death, Eilis stands out. “She believed, she carried something with her, something close to glamour, which made all the difference to her as she sat with Nancy watching the men talk.”
Bartoccis = professional advancement
Brooklyn gradually becomes Eilis’ substitute home, and offers her opportunities to forge a more independent future. Her night classes become central to her transformation. They allow her to expand her knowledge through the law books which she buys for her classes. she also follows her ambition to “graduate” to an office job at Bartocci’s, which becomes a symbolic reflection of her desire to explore her professional and academic opportunities in America. At work, her confidence grows: “in Bartocci’s she had learned to be brave and decisive with the customers” and the book-keeping course gives her the poise and confidence to approach one of her lecturers, Mr Rosenblum, and question him about books. Studying at nights makes her as “happy as she had been since she had left home” and Miss Bartocci promises her that she would be considered for a position as junior bookkeeper as soon as a vacancy appears.
Her growth is reflected in her growing attachment to her room and its increasing familiarity. “Eilis loved her room, loved putting her books at the table opposite the window when she came in at night.” She undertakes a two-year book-keeping course at Brooklyn College so that she can graduate from the shop floor to an office position.
Tony – personal support – symbols of transformation.
Eilis also has opportunities for personal growth and development in Brooklyn. This is foreshadowed by Georgina, whose “immensely poised and glamorous” appearance foreshadows Eilis’ own transformation in America. Toibin also utilises a series of metaphors to capture Eilis’ transformation. In trying on a new bathing costume that she is to wear with Tony at Coney Island, Eilis’ sensuality is made apparent to the reader as Miss Fortini admires her feminine figure. Furthermore, the block of land on Long Island which Tony presents to her serves as a metaphor for a new beginning. He foresees building it block by block, hinting at a life that Eilis could have in Brooklyn. Her relationship with Tony also aides her transformation, as his constant love and support makes him “present” in her life, giving her a “stronger sense of home than she have ever imagined”. Also, as her daily life becomes increasingly routine and solid, Eilis tames her earlier feelings of homesickness.) (dodgers match – also a symbol of familiarity with new cultural context.)