Brooklyn Colm Toibin Character Analysis

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Throughout the novel Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, the reader sees many transformations of the main character, Eilis, one of the largest being a growth in confidence. It is arguable whether or not the move to Brooklyn was for the better or worse; however, the final perception of Eilis in the novel is due to her emotional, cultural, and community aspects as well as the fixation of place, contributed to either her free will or was determined by another force. Eilis’ emotional behaviour during the initial segment of the book appears to be pretty forced, potentially due to the community surrounding her and their pressures inflicted upon her. One instance illustrates Eilis’ thought process of boundaries regarding how to act to Jim in the bar: “she felt …show more content…

Eilis’ hidden love life in America is what drastically shaped the character’s life in all aspects. By marrying Tony, she was not only forced to continue living with her husband in America but also leave everything she had developed from her new personality in Ireland. This is evident during Eilis’ departure back to Brooklyn where she attempts to make it “silent” (251). Typically when moving silently, it is intended to not be noticed or heard. The fact that Eilis wants to be unheard contributes to the knowledge she has that is associated with the guilt of leaving Ireland. Everything Eilis had gone through prior to leaving back to Brooklyn relates to the guilt and free will of emotion that is expressed. Due to the fact Eilis had not finished packing prior to the morning possibly be due to the fact that Eilis wanted time in the morning to look through her things, prior to leaving. Building off of that, this could allude to Eilis going to miss Ireland; by getting things to pack things from different areas around the house in order to refresh her memory on Ireland and clear the dust once

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