Anna answers “Based on the last paragraph of the novel,...”

Sarah asked this question about Brooklyn (Eilis Lacey, #1):

Based on the last paragraph of the novel, do you think Eilis happily returned to Tony and she realized she made the right decision? I am trying to make peace with the ending. "She has gone back to Brooklyn...these words would come to mean less and less to the man who heard them and would come to mean more and more to herself."

Anna I think "would come to mean more and more to herself" might be read both ways - as her regretting this decision and coming back to it in her mind over…moreI think "would come to mean more and more to herself" might be read both ways - as her regretting this decision and coming back to it in her mind over and over again (she likes thinking about what happened during the day) and as her accepting Brooklyn as her home.
I agree with Steven Smith that Eilis' feelings were influenced by her surroundings. When she lived in Brooklyn home was "hazy" to her, then when she returned to Ireland, Brooklyn was "hazy" as well. So my reading is the second one - she accepted Brooklyn as her home.
However, I think that she returned not because of love but because of duty. She enjoyed routines, was a diligent student, liked things to be done the right way. If she hadn't got married, she might have stayed with Jim, I think. (less)

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