Jessica 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."

Jessica I realize I may be in the minority here, but I don't think Eilis ever really loved Jim. I think she liked him as a person, certainly, but what I think…moreI realize I may be in the minority here, but I don't think Eilis ever really loved Jim. I think she liked him as a person, certainly, but what I think she really loved was what he represented: a steady, familiar life in the town she grew up in. This struck me the most when she was attending her friend's wedding and thought that she "didn't love Tony now." What she was experiencing was a fun, cheerful event with all the people she'd known her whole life, and this is what she could have for herself if she stayed with Jim. But later on, when Miss Kelly pettily informs Eilis that she knows her secret, she's reminded of what else life with Jim will mean--living in a town where everyone knows who you are and what you've done, without any chances to start over. This is when a life with Tony in Brooklyn becomes more appealing, because now she's realized that she had adapted to life in a big city in a new country, and enjoyed her independence too much to forfeit it now. I certainly hope that she really does love Tony, but even if she doesn't then I imagine that she would grow to love him more with time.(less)

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Kristen I agree completely that she never really loved Jim, but rather loved the idea of him and the life he could afford her in Ireland. She never had any in ...more
Jan 09, 2023 12:22PM · flag

ubermansky Thank you for your comments. I just finished reading it and I felt really cheated with so many loose ends, but your reading of it has helped. The idea ...more
Feb 23, 2025 01:09AM · flag

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