BROOKLYN Study Guide Questions

In this argumentative text we are going to talk about the novel Brooklyn point by point, for its meaning, structural elements, narrative techniques and so on.

In the first place we want to say that the novel Brooklyn by Colm Toibin tells us about the theme of immigration but, at the same time, of a girl, named Eilis, who is just becoming of age. These two topics are mixed in the entire story. About the “coming of age” the writer tells us all the typical experience of the typical young woman of that time: her difficulties to relate with the guys, her feeling with the first love, her first sex experience, the problem of the physical appearance and all. All these topics can be identify in each girl who is just coming of age still today.

The theme of immigration instead is more complex. Eilis goes through different feelings: when she arrives her mother and her sister have a very important role in her lives despite they were far away from her. She feels the nostalgia from her family and from Ireland. Sure enough every day she thinks about them and also each part of Brooklyn reminds her of her native place. This was one aspect of the immigration story but, another one is that despite she lives and work in America she still is inside an Irish community.

So all the uses and costumes remand the Irish one. Still today the immigration is a relevant part of our society, and Eilis’s story reminds lots of others immigrants story: at the first impact with the new world they fell homesick then this feeling fades away. Another situation which is still today present is the tendency of immigrants to stay with communities and people who comes from their native country. Especially thanks to Eilis, whom is the protagonist of the novel, we can understand better those situations.

Her characterisation is made through the narrator voice, her interior monologue but also through the dialogues and the though the other charters.

Right from the first pages, the intelligent reader can that understand Eilis is a passive character, and thus is confirm also in her last decision.

In our opinion Elis some times appears as an introverted person. This, for example, comes out in her relationship between her and the housemates. But the most important adjective to attribute to her is that she is always submitted (example by Mrs Kehoe, by her mother and sister and also father Flood). She accepts everything without saying a single word. Her behaviour is due to her home life in Ireland. Indeed when she lives there she is dependent on her sister, because she is the only one who brought home the money. Also

the behaviour of her mother induces Eilis to be obedient, docile and always say yes to the other.

Nevertheless inside the story Eilis grows emotionally. She grew; she feels more adults, more independent and also more self-confidence but her passive character remains and relevant part of her characterisation.

To tell the truth this story reminds me of another novel: “conversazione in Sicilia “ by Vittorini. In both novel there is a present theme of homesickness and nostalgia.

As in Brooklyn the protagonist of “conversazione in Sicilia” return home is difficult, they both return to their home because the mother is alone (although for different reasons) and both, at the end, return in the country of adoption for a sense of duty and not for their own will. As said before, Eilis never took her own decisions even when she leaves for America is just because her sister Rose together with Father Flood devise the plan to give her a better life.Rose makes this plan because she love her sister and she does not want Eilis to live in a small village, without any job opportunities. She wills all the best for Eilis who has the possibility to find a different path in a new world. The figure of Father Flood is different from the Rose one, and probably he devices the plan to send Eilis in America just to help a friend, Rose, to grow in the Irish community in Brooklyn and, as a good priest, he gives everyone the opportunity to lead a better life.

Inside this novel the intelligent reader can find many dualities and contrasts between characters and places. For example there is a clear difference between Eilis’s and Georgina’s character. Indeed Georgina is very confident and strong, she helped Eilis on the ship and she gave her some advices for her new life. Eilis on the contrary is shy and reserved, others easily influence her and she often let them decide for herself. Therefore the difference between the two characters is evident, another contrast is between Eilis and her sister. Rose’s behaviour is similar, for some aspects, to Georgina’s. Indeed they both are strong and independent; on the contrary Eilis is not the owner of her own life. The third contrast is between Eilis and her housemates. They are very fashionable, they pay attention to fashion and clothing; they also absolutely want find a husband as quick as they can. The working attitude and the indifference for the external aspect make Eilis an outstanding character compared to the rest. All these aspects are useful to highlight the distance between Eilis and the other characters.

One of the similarities inside the novel is between Brooklyn and Ireland, because Eilis moved into an Irish side of Brooklyn.

The novelist, Colm Toibin decided to omit the period in which the story take place, but the intelligent reader can understand it from some clues written inside the novel like the voyage on the ship to America. Indeed nowadays nobody moves to America by ship because everyone uses the plane. Another clue is that Rose seems to be different from the other girls in that close-minded society. Another hint is given by the fact that every girl in this novel wants to find a husband to set themselves down, thing that used to be common at that time. Therefore the reader can understand more or less the period of the story. This omission helps the reader to use imagination and to create a story line inside his/her head. From Brooklyn, the intelligent reader can understand a lot about the 1950’s, like society mentality and in particularly the Irish life style and the migrant’s one in New York City. When Eilis moved to Brooklyn it seemed to be the richest part of the New York, with a high concentration of shops, luxury and stores. But then, she noticed also lots of poor people and homeless. Therefore she realised that Brooklyn was not so different from Ireland. This is the reason why she was not very impressed by it. Eilis is not really impressed by anything also when she tries new things, emotions, feelings she sounds like apathetic. Even during her first sex experience she seems detached, this is an experience that influence a lot adolescent girls but she make it feel awkward and not sentimental at all to the reader almost mechanic. The reader might actually be caught by surprise with that scene because it happened right after Rose’s death and Eilis make it seem weird.

Another ne thing that Eilis will see is the diversity in this America. In fact, Eilis's confrontations with "diversity" of sex and race surprised us a lot. She comes from a little Irish town, where everybody knows everything about the people that live there. A closed and narrow-minded place, severally based on Catholic's values where different people are labelled and negative judged. Firstly we thought that Eilis could have problems of confrontation with this new reality who was quickly changing, but she slowly integrate and accept without any problems the arriving of coloured people in Brooklyn. In this way she is shown as an open minded young lady, who's fascinated by this new world in which she belongs to. Eilis is also in close contact with different social classes and groups of immigrants like Tony, his Italian family and her law professor, Mr Resenblum.
Besides Eilis's racial tolerance against ethnic groups, one can notice a different behaviour with the other sex. That is probably because she grows up with women and without any male figure (father died and brothers which moved to England). It is hard for her to interact with a man even if at the end she is going to be able to have a relationship with Tony, thanks to the help of some of her housemates and Miss Fortini. Those people definitely changed her life but not in a different way from her mother and her sister Rose. People still make decision for her and do not let them take her life is her own hands. Also the ending of this novel seems to be taken from other people and in our opinion Eilis's decision at the end is not the right one. She feels obliged to return to Brooklyn for working reasons and for Tony, to whom she was married. On the other hand her final decision was quite predictable because, right from the start, the novelist shows to the reader her insecurities and the importance about the other people opinion. She has done only what the people expected her to do. This make Eilis's future uncertain but most of all predictable. Reading the novel the reader can make some ideas himself about the protagonist and, as we said previously, she won't do anything that the reader can not expect. Maybe, at her return to Brooklyn, she will continue her normal life: working at Bartocci's, moving with Tony and living her life in this way. However we do not know if her life could have been better in Ireland, she probably would have stayed with her mother and help her at home, working like an accountant at Rose’s old workplace and going out with Jimmy. Probably she would have found more freedom in America even if she didn't follow her heart. That's why we think that she wills never going to be completely happy of the life she choose to live.
Her story, settled nowadays, will be more or less similar. Irish values and American values of that time still influence these realities, which are opposed also today. The societies are obviously more evolved but at the same time are based on the imaginary of the past.

Our final opinion is that this romance was really enjoyable and we really liked it because behind a love story there were a lot of hidden an important themes: immigration, becoming of age, family and more.

Even if the novel was written in 1950’s it tells about a current situation. Although Brooklyn is a quick moving read with a simplistic and understandable vocabulary, it gives an important message and inspiration for those who want to move in another country but they are scared of leaving their family and habits. Eili’s story shows that even if at the beginning of a new lifestyle might seem hard at the end is going to be better and a good choice for a better life.