Brooklyn' by Colm Toibin: Navigating Immigration and Romance

Introduction

Originally written by Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn tells the story of Eilis, a sheltered young woman from 1950s Ireland who is persuaded to immigrate away from the comfort of her small hometown to Brooklyn, New York where employment and education prospects are much better. Her initial homesickness makes it difficult for her to adjust to her new life until she meets and begins an exciting romance with Italian-American Tony Fiorello. The sudden death of her beloved sister back in Ireland leads Eilis back home where she must make the difficult choice between her two countries and the lives that exist within. (IMDb, 2015) The metanarrative in Brooklyn is a coming of age story, covering the idea of growing up and the inherent difficulty of deciding what elements of your past you bring into your future.

The Meta-Narrative in 'Brooklyn'

The meta-narrative in Brooklyn is about the process of growing up being a universally difficult experience. This is displayed through the experiences of Eilis as she becomes independent and moves away from home. As she must come to terms with what it means to have a future of her own, Eilis must decide what parts of her past she wants to remain in her life and what she must leave behind. This is an experience that everyone must go through either consciously or subconsciously as they grow into independence and face responsibilities as an adult. This theme is extended in Brooklyn as the physical distance Eilis faces between the home of her past and her future exaggerates the divide between the familiar comforts of childhood and the unknown of the future.

Immigration as Experience of Growth

Eilis’ experience of immigration from Ireland to America is used as a metaphor for growing up and embracing the future despite the challenges it presents. Through the process of growing up, significant parts of childhood must be left behind as required by the inevitability of change. This is a double-edged sword, as explored through the film. On one hand it is exciting to move towards the possibilities of the future as symbolised by the wide angle shot of Eilis stepping through the blue door into the shining bright light of the outside as she enters America. However, along with the excitement of future possibilities that immigration brings, there is also heartbreak at having to leave the past behind. Eilis experiences this through her initial experience of crippling homesickness. Homesickness, like nostalgia creates an unbalanced memory in favour of the positive elements of the past and subconsciously forgets all negative aspects. This along with the inevitable changes that occur over time means that in the process of growing up revisiting the past is often disappointing. Eilis finds this to be the case when she returns to Ireland, where she unable to reconnect to life in Ireland as it once was. She is forced to reconcile herself with the fact that she is not the same person she once was and despite the possibilities Ireland holds, she is now Eilis Fiorello and must return to her home as the adult she has become. Through the process of immigration, Eilis as a character is irreversibly transformed. This can be seen in the last scene where Eilis, on the way back to America, passes down her wisdom to a younger girl on the boat, visually and metaphorically mirroring the beginning of her own journey.

Methapores of Romance in 'Brooklyn'

As the events of the film progress, Eilis experiences two very different romances which are metaphors for her past and her future. Tony, an American-Italian who delights her with new experiences in Brooklyn represents her hopes and dreams of new adventures and a future of family and laughter. On the other hand, Jim encompasses all the elements of life in Ireland that Eilis missed as he symbolises the comfort and familiarity of her past life in a small town. This is able to be shown through the technology of film through the use of deliberate visual juxtaposition between the crowded beach scene on Cony Island with Tony and the serene and vastly empty beach scene Eilis shares with Jim back in Ireland. This visual juxtaposition which would not be as apparent in another medium such as the novel. The juxtaposing scenes are extremely successful in the film to highlight just how different both the relationships are and the futures they represent. Her lively and hopeful relationship with Tony is focused on their future, as he endeavours to delight her on various new and exciting places America has to offer like the bright and bustling Coney Island. This symbolises how Eilis’s future in America is bright, with the prospects of living the ‘American dream’. The beach scene with Jim is empty of all other inhabitants, representing how life in Ireland is a place where Eilis can’t hide in a crowd. With Jim, Eilis faces a life of familiarity and stability which could eventually turn stale much like her experiences in the past. Ultimately, Eilis is forced to choose between the two relationships and the futures they represent.

Conclusion

As a coming of age film, Brooklyn’s metanarrative highlights the universal pain and joy experienced through the process of growing up which requires making difficult decisions as to what elements of the past to bring into the future and what must be left behind. Eilis’s experience of immigration is used as a metaphor for the inevitability and irreversibility of change required to grow up. The film also uses her two romances to symbolise her past and future and the choice she must make as to which one she embraces. As a coming of age film, Brooklyn uses Eilis’s journey to reveal its meta-narrative which explores the difficult decisions that must be made when growing up and becoming independent.

Bibliography

1. Crowley, John. 2015. Brooklyn. DVD. Transmission Films. IMDb. 2015. 'Brooklyn (2015)' https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381111/ Accessed July 19, 2019.