Brooklyn

Tony Fiorello is the primary love interest of Eilis Lacey in Brooklyn. A young Italian man from a large family, he demonstrates his commitment to Eilis and their future every chance he has. He is attentive to Eilis and does his best to make her feel comfortable and safe. She recognizes his commitment to this when they dance together during their first meeting and he respects her space and pacing: “Eilis could see that Tony loved this and put as much effort as he could into getting it right while making sure also that he did not do more than she did. She felt that he was holding himself back for her” (135). Tony commits to matching Eilis’s pace and energy, preventing her from feeling out of place or uncomfortable about not knowing how to dance. His willingness to hold himself back for her demonstrates to Eilis that his interest in her is genuine. The empathy and consideration Tony demonstrates in his dancing is reflected in his character throughout the novel, as he often waits for her outside of school, and takes her to dinner, the dances, and movies, but only if she wants to and has time. Though he occasionally pushes her with his dreams for their future together, making her uncomfortable with the speed of their relationship, he is always prepared to comfort and listen to her.

Tony is only present in Part 3 of Brooklyn, and over the course of his time on the page, he remains a fairly static character, confident in his goals for the future and intentions with Eilis. He remains a stalwart support for her and expresses his love to her in every conversation. When Rose dies and Eilis wants to return to Enniscorthy, he tells her that he is afraid she will not come back but he does not become so possessive that he forbids her to leave, instead trusting that if they marry, she will return to him. During this emotional time, Eilis depends on Tony and realizes that he is willing to be there for her: “[S]he felt almost guilty that she had handed some of her grief to him, and then she felt close to him for his willingness to take it and hold it, in all its rawness, all its dark confusion” (192). Tony’s commitment to Eilis means that he is ready to support her, even in dark, scary times. He takes on some of her emotional burden, feeling her sorrow with her, but not overstepping and letting her grieve as she needs, being there as a support for her to do so. He demonstrates his love for her in this way, and Eilis recognizes it, realizing that he is serious about their future together.

Jim Farrell is the secondary love interest of Eilis and a character who does not truly enter the narrative until her return to Ireland. Jim is a friend of George Sheridan, Nancy’s fiancée, and at the beginning of Brooklyn, he ignores Eilis at the local dance. Jim’s family owns a pub and comes from a different social class in Enniscorthy than Eilis does. Though she is not truly interested in him at the beginning of the novel, his dismissal stings Eilis: “Just as she was about to accept him, Jim Farrell appeared to think better of it, stepped back and almost imperiously glanced around the hall, ignoring her” (20). Eilis is prepared to accept his offer to dance out of politeness, but when he ignores her, seemingly because she is not good enough for him, she leaves. She believes that he looks down on her, impacting her own confidence and leading her to see him as a snob. Even this early in the novel, Jim becomes a foil to Tony. When Eilis meets Tony at a dance, he looks at her all night before asking her to dance and is then enraptured by anything she says. Jim, by contrast, won’t even look at her and shows no interest.

His role as a foil to Tony continues in Part 4, when Eilis returns to Ireland and she and Jim begin talking and eventually courting. Although he is changed in Eilis’s eyes now, with his calm conversations and gentle approach to her, she comes to see that he is not much different from who she suspected him to be initially. She thinks of his future, how happy he is with his place in Enniscorthy, and realizes she cannot be with him: “He had never done anything unusual in his life, and, she thought, he never would. His version of himself and the world did not include the possibility of spending time with a married woman” (251-52). Eilis recognizes the impracticality of their situation with her marriage to Tony and expects his personality and expectations for his life will block him from accepting the truth from her. She also, however, recognizes that he does not want to change, he is satisfied with what he has. This is in direct contrast to Tony, who, with his brothers, is striving to start a construction company and develop land in Long Island where he and his family can move to have a better life. Eilis is also striving for a new life in Brooklyn, and she sees her own goals and expectations for the future as more compatible with Tony than Jim.

Father Flood is the priest who helps Eilis come to Brooklyn and then watches over her as she makes the transition. He is a mentor to Eilis and is the primary figure who helps her overcome the homesickness that so strongly impacts her during her first year in the US. He is a kind man who helps Eilis because of her situation: “‘I was amazed that someone like you would not have a good job in Ireland. When your sister mentioned that you had no work in Ireland, then I said I would help you to come here. That’s all. And we need Irish girls in Brooklyn’” (81). Father Flood does not operate with ulterior motives and helps Eilis from a place of kindness. He wants her to have a better life than she did in Ireland, and he does so by not only sponsoring her but by also supporting her. He enrolls her in bookkeeping classes to take her mind off home and kickstart her career, and he does not expect her to pay him back for the tuition. Through his kind guidance, Eilis learns to survive and even thrive in America.

When Rose dies and Eilis faces her most difficult time in Brooklyn, Father Flood is there to deliver the news and be a support for her. He not only coordinates a call home but ensures that Mrs. Kehoe and Tony are available to be with Eilis and see her through her grief. Even when he delivers the news, Eilis can see that it pains him and that he understands the profound sense of loss she feels: “It was the softness in his voice, the guarded way he avoided her eyes, that made her start to cry” (179). This observation by Eilis comes right as he tells her that she will not be able to go for the funeral, as it is happening in the coming days. She sees that he recognizes the pain this causes her. He is her guardian and mentor in Brooklyn, doing his best to protect her and help her prosper.

Rose Lacey is the older sister of Eilis and the child who supports their mother after their father dies. Rose is a role model to Eilis. From the beginning of the novel, Rose is a confident and independent woman who does not let others’ expectations impact the way she lives her life:

Rose, at thirty, Eilis thought, was more glamorous every year, and, while she had had several boyfriends, she remained single; she often remarked that she had a much better life than many of her former schoolmates who were to be seen pushing prams through the streets (11).

Eilis sees her sister as a beautiful and fiercely independent woman. She knows what she wants for her life and speaks freely, even at the protestations of her mother. Rose, like a mentor, helps Eilis to grow as a woman, by providing an example for her, even if this fierce independence is the suspected reason for her hiding the heart condition that leads to her death.

Eilis’s relationship with Rose through much of the novel comes through their brief correspondences in letters. Eilis often writes to Rose about her life, telling her of her job and of Tony, and Rose replies with cautious encouragement, wanting Eilis to stay focused on her goals: “Rose said that Tony seemed very nice, and, since they were both young, they would not have to make any decisions, and that the best news was that Eilis would, by the summer, be a qualified bookkeeper and could start to look for experience” (176). Rose’s primary hope for Eilis is that she finds good work, and this is one of the reasons that she helps to send Eilis to Brooklyn. Her expectations are that Eilis lives an independent life, not trapped in Enniscorthy with a job in Miss Kelly’s shop or marriage as her only options. Therefore, in many of these letters, Rose redirects Eilis and constantly expresses these expectations, trying to lead Eilis to the future she pictures for her.

Eilis’s mother is conflicted throughout the novel over whether to let Eilis go. With her husband buried and her sons in England, she has only her daughters with her. She is reluctant to lose Eilis, even if it means she will have a better life. When Eilis receives a letter from Father Flood telling her that her path to Brooklyn is clear, Eilis’s mother is reluctant to acknowledge it: “[S]he would sit and wait, counting each second, knowing that her mother had no real work to do. She was, in fact, Eilis saw, making work for herself so that she would not have to turn” (27). Eilis’s mother does let her go, though she is very upset about it, and when Rose dies, there is an expectation that Eilis will return home to be with her mother and fill Rose’s role. When Eilis reveals to her mother that she is married to Tony, her mother understands that she will once again lose her daughter, and this time be left with no one. Despite this, she approaches the situation in a supportive way: “Her mother’s voice was soft and low and reassuring, but Eilis could see from the look in her eyes how much effort she was putting into saying as little as possible of what she felt” (258). Eilis’s mother once again supports Eilis in leaving, despite her actual feelings about it. She is to be left alone in Ireland now, with no family, and no one to take care of her as she grows older. However, she puts Eilis first, knowing that a better life and a commitment to Tony await her when she returns to Brooklyn.

Mrs. Kehoe is the landlord of Eilis’s boardinghouse and represents a strong connection to Ireland in Eilis’s life. Not only is Mrs. Kehoe from the same part of Ireland as Eilis, but she also holds many of the values and a similar mindset to the people in her hometown. Mrs. Kehoe is very conservative and disapproves of many of the girls in the boardinghouse but loves Eilis. When she gives Eilis the best room in the basement, she gives Eilis the impression of forging a secretive alliance: “It was clear to her that her landlady’s last remark carried with it the firm idea that she and Eilis stood apart from the other lodgers and were prepared to intimate to them that they had conspired in this” (104). Mrs. Kehoe’s approach and attitude towards the room remind Eilis of the women in Enniscorthy, who gossip and judge each other, always knowing others’ business and using it against them. Her most relevant comparison would be that of Miss Kelly, who uses information to dictate who receives the best products from her store. It is no coincidence then that Mrs. Kehoe and Miss Kelly are cousins.

Miss Kelly, the owner and operator of a local shop in Enniscorthy, is Eilis’s first boss. Her judgmental personality and exploitive labor practices make her largely an antagonist to Eilis, and in Part 4, she reveals that she knows Eilis is married to Tony through her cousin, Mrs. Kehoe, catalyzing Eilis’s return to Brooklyn. Miss Kelly thrives on gossip, using it to decide whom she likes in town and whom to serve the best products to. Eilis observes this judgment early in the novel: “And then there were the customers whom she greeted warmly and by name; many of these had accounts with her and thus no cash changed hands” (10). These customers not only do not pay at the time of purchase but are also given access to the best food or limited products that Miss Kelly keeps for them in the back of the room. She also lets her preferred customers cut in line, creating a hierarchy in town. Eilis remembers Miss Kelly’s treatment of others, which is in stark contrast to the policy at Bartocci’s: to serve all equally.