Eilis character notes
Character Quotes / Notes
Eilis Lacey
• Protagonist
• Heroine
• Indecisive
• Inexperienced
• Innocent
• Naïve
• Young •
• “I hear you have no job at all but a great mind for figures” (Miss Kelly, p.5)
• “Irish girls aren’t like Italian girls. They’re serious” (tony, p.133)
• “You have changed. You look different. Everything about you is different” (Nancy, p.130)
• Home sickness is a “terrible weight” that underscores her anonymity in Brooklyn: “she was nobody here…she was a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor”, Eilis quickly realises that she must adjust if she is to survive. This means embracing the life and suppressing her longing for Ireland: “it would be like covering a table with a table cloth, or closing the curtains on a window”
•
• Youngest in the family, she has been used to her parents and older siblings making key decisions.
• She is not brave
• Afraid of offending someone
• There is an implicit recognition that she is a talented young woman- Eilis “never made mistakes when she did her addition”
• Devout Catholic – she attended mass every Sunday in Enniscorthy
• Eilis immigrating to America was entirely Rose’s initiative
-as Rose and her mother collude with Father Flood, Eilis feels “like a child” whose fate is being decided for her.
• Eilis is, by nature, reserved and emotionally guarded.
• She is selective in her relationships and shies away from physical intimacy. It is not easy for her to express her true feelings, even those closest to her. This particularly evident in her relationship with tony…..
• When Eilis does not have the confidences to act on her instincts, she makes mistakes. The foremost is her impulsive marriage to Tony, but her resentment to Jim Farrell is another.
• Throughout the text, her actions are generally informed by the twin values of connection to family and a clearly defined sense of duty.
• Her generosity is constant, and tony calls her a “good person”.
•
Eilis Lacey
• Protagonist
• Heroine
• Indecisive
• Inexperienced
• Innocent
• Naïve
• Young •
• “I hear you have no job at all but a great mind for figures” (Miss Kelly, p.5)
• “Irish girls aren’t like Italian girls. They’re serious” (tony, p.133)
• “You have changed. You look different. Everything about you is different” (Nancy, p.130)
• Home sickness is a “terrible weight” that underscores her anonymity in Brooklyn: “she was nobody here…she was a ghost in this room, in the streets on the way to work, on the shop floor”, Eilis quickly realises that she must adjust if she is to survive. This means embracing the life and suppressing her longing for Ireland: “it would be like covering a table with a table cloth, or closing the curtains on a window”
•
• Youngest in the family, she has been used to her parents and older siblings making key decisions.
• She is not brave
• Afraid of offending someone
• There is an implicit recognition that she is a talented young woman- Eilis “never made mistakes when she did her addition”
• Devout Catholic – she attended mass every Sunday in Enniscorthy
• Eilis immigrating to America was entirely Rose’s initiative
-as Rose and her mother collude with Father Flood, Eilis feels “like a child” whose fate is being decided for her.
• Eilis is, by nature, reserved and emotionally guarded.
• She is selective in her relationships and shies away from physical intimacy. It is not easy for her to express her true feelings, even those closest to her. This particularly evident in her relationship with tony…..
• When Eilis does not have the confidences to act on her instincts, she makes mistakes. The foremost is her impulsive marriage to Tony, but her resentment to Jim Farrell is another.
• Throughout the text, her actions are generally informed by the twin values of connection to family and a clearly defined sense of duty.
• Her generosity is constant, and tony calls her a “good person”.
•