Eilis leaves Ireland very abruptly. Do you think this was out of shame or because she wanted to avoid the small-town gossip? Another reason?
In the beginning of the novel, Eilis is very much an Irish immigrant. She comments on food, the weather, crowds, mannerisms. It is clear she feels very far from her home. By the end, she is married, leaves behind her mother almost happily (that small smile on the journey back) and seems almost distressed by the small town she grew up in. At the end of the novel, is Eilis still an Irish immigrant, or an Irish-American? Another way to phrase this would be - Where does Eilis feel most at home now, Ireland or America?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Jim was a temptation for Eilis, not because they actually “clicked”, but because she had doubted herself and her decision to marry Tony. Flirting, and toying with the idea of being with Jim helped Elis alleviate her trapped feelings. In Brooklyn, Elis is her only support system, and when she was to return it would likely end in her also supporting Tony emotionally as well as herself. Jim represented Eilis’ dependency, comfort, and youth that she still dreams about.
I felt that she left abruptly to minimize the pain of the ordeal. She knew she had to leave and she knew that she had to take responsibility for her choice to marry Tony. As her fate was sealed, she didn’t want to exacerbate her guilt or hesitation or regret. She definitely felt the scorn of her mother and of the town, and in many ways it was easier to leave quickly and quietly.
I think that Eilis felt alienated by Enniscorthy at the end of the book. She had seen beyond the walls of small town life – like Plato’s allegory of the cave. Once Eilis had acquired this knowledge of existence, she could never fit into the same role ever again. She had witnessed the harshness of the “real world”, and could never be accepted or fulfilled by the ‘shadows on the wall’ or the ‘people in the cave’. Therefore, she is no longer Irish, yet not quite an Irish American, she is an un-happy medium. She is the escaped prisoner from the cave: rejected by their oldest friends inside the cave, and not yet accepted by the humans outside.
Jim is a slice of home for Eilis; he is a comfort for her, after experiencing the hectic lifestyle that Brooklyn has to offer. I did not detect any attraction to Jim in the beginning of the novel, nor did I witness something genuine between them at the end when she sees him again; I feel that their reconnection is an attempt by the author to give Eilis a conflict without making her seem as selfish, if she had not had Jim and simply chose to stay in Ireland on her own will.
ReplyDeleteEilis seems to leave Ireland because she is caught redhanded in her two-timing act. I feel that had Eilis not have been caught by Miss Kelly, she would have dragged out her stay even longer in Ireland and chosen to stay or leave reluctantly. I don't feel that this was abrupt in her characterization because throughout the novel she only decides to act after something has happened to her.
I feel as though Eilis has learned to be an Irish American. Although she is a first generation immigrant, she is married to a born and bred American that accounts for how she lives her life. Although she misses her home country, she doesn't really have much to face in terms of struggle except balancing school and work so her assimilation and experience was much easier than most immigrants.