Marie Lutz 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."

Marie Lutz In the 1950s divorce was often a shameful thing. Unlike many other commentators I don’t think Eilis had any choice but to return to Tony. The author …more In the 1950s divorce was often a shameful thing. Unlike many other commentators I don’t think Eilis had any choice but to return to Tony. The author describes Jim as a rather conventional man. In a small town, could he have accepted the stigma of her divorce, the gossip, the condemnation of so many people? Could Eilis have tolerated it? Even if she could, I think she knew that Jim would reject her after he found out about her marriage. I think Eilis somewhat loved Tony while she was with him in Brooklyn and didn’t love him in Ireland. She was the kind of girl who became attached to the man she was with. The last paragraph means that Jim would forget about Eilis and she would accept the reality of Tony and Brooklyn. I don’t think she would be devastated about the way things turned out. (less)

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