Brooklyn Literary Elements

bildungsroman, historical fiction, romance

The novel opens in Enniscorthy, a small town in County Wexford, Ireland. It then follows its protagonist Eilis across the Atlantic to Brooklyn. The novel takes place sometime in the 1950s.

The novel features a third-person limited narrator, meaning that that the narrator is not Eilis herself, but is limited to what Eilis knows and experiences.

The tone of the novel is sympathetic and thoughtful. The narrator seems to sympathize with Eilis's struggles, as he or she never makes light of Eilis's pain or criticizes her obvious mistakes.

The mood of the novel is regretful, and nostalgic for the past. Eilis never truly finds herself throughout the novel, and seems unable to make anywhere her home. She is pushed along by the actions of others until it is too late to make her own choices. She mourns the lives she could have had.

The protagonist of the novel is Eilis Lacey. Miss Kelly is a minor character whose cruelty towards Elias set in motion both the rising action (Eilis leaving for Brooklyn in the beginning, and returning in the end). But perhaps the larger antagonist is the fact of Eilis having to make difficult decisions about the kind of life she wants to build for herself, whether in Enniscorthy or Brooklyn.

The major conflict of the novel surfaces when Eilis's sister Rose unexpectedly dies, forcing her to return to Ireland to care for her grieving mother. Eilis realizes that she can have the life she always wanted in Enniscorthy if she chooses to stay. She can work as a bookkeeper, marry Jim Farrell, and enjoy relative wealth and status among the people she grew up knowing. But she also has a life in Brooklyn that is not easy to leave behind. She has already married Tony, after all, and there are many opportunities for her in America, as well. The main conflict of the novel essentially boils down to whether she should stay in Enniscorthy or return to Brooklyn.

The climax of the novel is Eilis's confrontation with Miss Kelly. Miss Kelly calls Eilis into her apartment, and essentially tells her that she knows about Eilis's secret marriage, and will tell the whole town if she continues to deceive everyone. Eilis must finally decide whether to come clean to Jim Farrell, and try to stay in Enniscorthy permanently, or to return to Tony in Brooklyn.

The most obvious example of foreshadowing in the novel is Tony's assertion that if Eilis goes home to Ireland without marrying him, she will not come back. He immediately predicts the core conflict she will face in returning to her hometown. Eilis seems less self-aware, promising that she will return, regardless of whether she marries him. But it seems likely that Tony was right, as it is the threat of her marriage being exposed to the town that finally prompts her to return to Brooklyn. Eilis even tells her mother she does not know if she would have returned to Brooklyn if she had not married Tony.

This book alludes to real-life places like including Brooklyn, Enniscorthy, and Brooklyn College. It also references real historical events like the Holocaust and World War II. It also hints at issues of racial segregation in America at the time.

In terms of pop culture, it mentions the films Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Belle of New York (1952), as well as the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.