Regardless, Eilis' opportunity to go to America (given to her, we must add, by Rose) forces her to do some growing up—and fast. Sheila seems to fill a surrogate role of this to Eilis, judging by their bathroom conversation. While there are plenty of unplanned detours and unforeseen accidents along the way, this is a classic coming-of-age story if we've ever seen one. © 2020 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. Only after the death of her sister and marriage to Tony does Eilis find in Ireland the future she was looking for when she went to Brooklyn, until she loses one daughter to America and the other dies, Her final scene looks like a subversion, as while she's saddened that Eilis has married someone else, she doesn't stop her and implies she just needs time to process it, The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy. Regardless, Eilis mounts her big comeback after serving Christmas dinner at Father Flood's parish, which makes her feel like she could be at "a parish hall anywhere in Ireland on the night of concert" (2.239). This is some classic "fake it 'til you make it" technique, but little does Eilis know that she's actually started on the path to adulthood. Eilis realises exactly why she wanted to escape from her home in the first place. Instead, she becomes content (or acts like it) with whatever's in front of her at a given point in time, which in this case, is the hunky Jim Farrell. Eilis ultimately does find a happy and fufilling new life in America but only after tremendous homesickness and being seriously tempted to return to Ireland for good. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Brooklyn. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. She gets her a temp job at Rose's old office, which ends with them offering her a full-time job. Level-headed and reserved, Eilis determinedly navigates her new life and what it means to have a place in life. The film does not pull any punches about the grimmer side of this trope either whether it be immigrants who never truly find a home in their new country or the family and friends left behind who essentially lose someone for good. Still, we wouldn't be surprised to see this same dynamic happen in reverse and Eilis' feelings towards Jim evaporate when she returns to America. Hesitant to leave her mother and sister, she realizes she has no choice if she wants a career. It turns out she's in correspondence with a relative there who mentions Eilis's marriage to Miss Kelly, and she finds out about Eilis's marriage this way, homesickness passes and she realises exactly what she's finally escaped from, and commits fully to her new life in America, Eilis's "family tree" loses a branch with Rose's death, Deconstructed. Her mother is an overbearing lady who often makes her feel "like a child when the doctor would come to the house" (1.186). This is amplified by the fact that Mrs. Lacey basically tries to transform Eilis into her deceased older sister. In preparation, Eilis asks Miss Fortini to help her pick out a bathing suit. As we've seen time and time again, she has a difficult time holding on to her emotions towards something when it's not directly in front of her. When she departs for New York again, it's a Maybe Ever After situation and Eilis isn't sure she's done the right thing. After first seeming very rude and standoffish, she's incredibly kind and compassionate to Eilis after she gets sick, gets revenge on her behalf by locking the others out of the bathroom, then gives her advice on how to survive the rest of the journey and what to do and not to do upon arrival. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. As this relationship grows, she even claims that she doesn't love Tony anymore. In the book she actually does cheat on Tony, kissing Jim passionately. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. But this is just Eilis' nature. Of course, it's hardly that simple. In the film she has a Heel Realisation before she does anything and reunites with Tony for an unambiguous happy ending . That doesn't meant that she's definitely going to end up staying with Tony or anything—we could easily imagine Eilis starting a brand new life for herself when she returns. Regardless, Eilis is notably hesitant to commit to their relationship, though it's never clear whether this is just nervousness, an indication of a lack of feelings towards him, or just her hesitation to move at a Tony-esque warp speed: And yet she knew that in his mind Tony was moving faster than she was, and she knew that she would have to slow him down. When she departs for New York again, it's a, Eilis herself is now in this role as she journeys back to America, offering help to another girl emigrating, As Tony and Eilis get married at City Hall, he's chatting to an Irish guy whose wife is from a similar area to Eilis. Rose to Eilis. As this relationship grows, she even claims that she doesn't love Tony anymore. As do Patty and Diana, despite initially seeming to be a pair of. This really twists Eilis around, leading her to have an affair with Jim Farrell as she wonders whether she should just stay in Ireland. Soon, Tony does ask Eilis to visit Coney Island with him. Either way, Eilis pushes these ambiguities aside and agrees to marry Tony after Rose's sudden death forces her to return to Ireland. Her future in Brooklyn might be scary and unknown, but she'd prefer that to the on-rails existence she'd live if she stayed in Ireland. But this is just Eilis' nature. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she finds herself an Italian-American sweetheart as well. The Fiorello Family (Mr. and Mrs. Fiorello, Maurice, Laurence, and Frank), Eilis' Roommates (Patty, Diane, Sheila, and Ms. McAdam). Eilis' relationship with Tony ends up defining her time in Brooklyn, for better or worse. Although it takes a few weeks to happen, Eilis is eventually socked in the jaw with one of the most brutal uppercuts of homesickness we've ever seen. Once in America, Eilis finds herself heartbroken. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Eilis is terrified at first, which makes sense because she's never actually had to make decisions for herself before, but she quickly starts feeling excited. When we first meet her, Eilis is still very much a child on the inside. Her sister Rose tries to help her through this, but that might actually hinder Eilis' growth, as Eilis never actually has to deal with her mom directly since Rose takes the brunt of the damage. In the book she actually does cheat on Tony, kissing Jim passionately. Set in 1952, the film follows Eilis, a young Irish woman trying to make a future for herself in New York. The End of the Beginning. That's not to say he's bad—he's a swell dude and Eilis really digs him. Naturally, this is a trip in every possible meaning of the word. The thing about Tony is that yes, he will take care of Eilis. This really twists Eilis around, leading her to have an affair with Jim Farrell as she wonders whether she should just stay in Ireland. Eilis has grown up a lot since going to America and has become a little Americanized—as she walks one night, "she noticed a woman studying her and she realized with amusement [...] that she must look glamorous in these streets" (4.33). All of this fun inner turmoil is jacked up to eleven when Eilis arrives in America. On a more depressing note, however, the fact that Rose isn't there only reminds her of the devastating loss of her sister. It’s about a young Irish immigrant named Eilis Lacey who travels to America in search of a better life. Brooklyn’s impact and the love story between Eilis and Tony is about poignancy over passion. In fact, making her happy does seem to be his first priority. Brooklyn is a 2015 drama based on a novel of the same name written by Colm Tóibín. She dresses Eilis in her sis' old clothes like "she was Rose's ghost" (4.102). The Story and Lead-In: Eilis and Tony. Missing her is Eilis's main source of angst in the first part of the film. (3.466). Eilis Lacey grows from a nervous, nerdy girl into a confident (but equally nerdy) young woman over the course of Brooklyn.