Kasey L 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."

Kasey L Eilis's dilemma isn't Tony versus Jim. Throughout the book, she cared for and admired them both, in different ways, and her feeling of not loving Tony…moreEilis's dilemma isn't Tony versus Jim. Throughout the book, she cared for and admired them both, in different ways, and her feeling of not loving Tony at the wedding didn't show that she loved Jim more, but showed that she was capable of loving whichever man she chose and not regretting the loss of the other.

Eilis's conflict was between Brooklyn and Ireland. She would have been happy living in either place. In Ireland, she had old friends, family, familiarity, safety, and a village of people who would make her decisions for her. In Brooklyn, she had excitement, independence, more choices, new experiences, and the ability to live her own life (not Rose's).

True, she was a passive character who did not choose her destiny, but her smile at the end indicates that she was happy with the destiny that had been chosen for her. Brooklyn was perhaps not the decision she would have made on her own because it was painful and scary to leave her home, family, friends, and predictable life, but it was the place that later in her life, when homesickness had died away and maturity would bring her a greater desire to maker her own decisions, that she would be happiest. The last line means that she feels she does not need to feel guilty about Jack because over time Jack would get over her, and that over time, she would be glad that she had left Ireland and gone to Brooklyn.

Yes, the ending is slightly sad, but not because she is leaving Jack... it's sad because she is leaving Ireland and the life she could have had there. It represents the feelings of all immigrants who leave behind not just their family and friends, but also leave behind an alternate life that they easily could have chosen to live. Jack represents that other life that was left behind, a life of safety and comfort and familiarity. Tony represents the exciting, unpredictable life she would lead in Brooklyn full of possibilities. Her smile at the end shows that she will be happy with that life.(less)

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