Com Toibin Brooklyn Analysis

Elly Kamm believed that her life was “beautiful” and she lived a very “spoiled” life until she arrived at the ghettos in 1942. As people were being taken away on to the trains, Elly Kamm was about to lose her mother and brother so she volunteered to leave with her family. Her mother told her to go back home to get another pair of shoes for the trip. Her mother and little brother

There comes a point in one’s life when they must recognize the hardships placed upon them, and instead of being ignorant of those hardships, they must confront them head-on. In “Marigolds”, a short story by Eugenia Collier, the main protagonist, Lizabeth, encounters various struggles that come with living in a poor town in rural Maryland during the Depression, allowing her to learn more about growing up and accepting reality with all its flaws. Lizabeth is a 14-year-old girl who feels a conflict between her inner child and her inner woman, as she is unable to do anything that satisfies both sides of her. She feels too old to be a child, yet too young to be a

Love is a game. The object of the game is for men to win the hearts of women. But winning the hearts of women is rare for men to do. The man in the poem “Love In Brooklyn”, is a novice player in the game of love. Because he is unfamiliar with the rules, he does not know how to win the hearts of women. Because of his lack of knowledge in women, he is extremely introverted when he interacts with women. He said, ““I love you, Horowitz”... and he blew his nose””(Line 1). The way he said “I love you” made the meaning of the statement lose its value. He also tried to prove to her that he loved her by comparing his love for her to a tank sliding through the trees (lines 12-14). He compares his love for her to destruction illustrating that he is clueless

There was one moment in the book where she had to make probably one of the most difficult choices in her life, yet she did not hesitate to make that choice. Jeannette’s older sister, Lori, always wanted to move to New York to escape her delusional parents. However, she did not have enough money to pay for a bus ticket, wiping out any hope that she had. " ‘I'll never get out of here,’ Lori kept saying. ‘I'll never get out of here.’ ‘You will,’ I said. ‘I swear it.’ I believed she would. Because I knew that if Lori never got out of Welch, neither would I.” Then one day, Jeannette was offered $200 and a bus ticket back to Welch to take care of a woman’s two toddlers in Iowa for the summer. Instead, she insisted that the woman, Mrs. Sanders, should take Lori and her payment be a “bus ticket to New York City.” The fact that Jeannette easily made the decision of sacrificing her ticket for Lori amazes me; she knew how important the trip the New York was for her, so she wanted to make that dream happen. When Lori left, Jeannette still did not give up on her dream to go to New York and become a journalist. She joined just about “every extracurricular event at the school” to gain the attention of colleges, particularly in New York. The motivation that can be found in this is that you cannot give up on your ambitions

The 1967 film, The Graduate is a classic film that is bound to stand the test of time. The fictional story revolves around Benjamin Braddock, a 21 year old graduate who returns home from college and is re-introduced to his father’s friend’s wife, Mrs. Robinson. Through enticing conversation and alluring conversation, Mrs. Robinson seduces Ben. After an affair that lasts weeks with Mrs. Robinson, Ben is introduced to and finds his heart to be with Elaine Robinson. Their relationship is strengthened and after trials of hardship and rejection, but the taBen and Elaine marry regardless of the wishes of their families. The film, directed by Mike Nichols, a German native, is riddled with Existentialist, Marxist, Feminist, and Archetypal scenes and perspectives. Approaching the film from the Existentialist lens, we find several examples throughout the film of when characters follow an Existentialist viewpoint or outlook. An Existentialist typically questions their true identity, the meaning of life, the meaning of their life, or the purpose of their life overall?

does not have any feelings for Frank when her eyes ?gave him no sign of

As a child, Roberta Bondi didn’t have a peaceful childhood while growing up. She had to struggle with her faith, calling God, father, and even her relationship with her own father. Roberta had unique personality compared to others such that her thinking was beyond what anyone might expect; in which the excitement of thinking beyond expectations made Roberta the person she was. Roberta was raised in a society where men were in control; however, she didn’t approve of such society due to her curiosity and not obeying what she’s been told. Roberta was not an easy and a calm child to handle, she caused trouble and her father’s expectations of her were high.

Everyday, people are faced with choices. Some of life’s choices are simple, such as deciding what to wear to school or choosing a television station to watch. Other choices, however, are much more serious and have life-altering consequences. Sethe, the protagonist of Beloved, and Sophie, the main focus in Sophie’s Choice, are mothers that are faced with choices that change their entire lives. While the time period and characters involved differ, the choices of Sethe and Sophie can easily be compared.

Furthermore, success is so solo for Kate since seeking the higher education is almost the fateful dream of Morrison clan, from the Great-grand Mother Morrison to Kate’s parents. She works so hard to fulfill it after Matt “betrayed” it. However, by gradually involving in Daniel’s life and his family, Kate learns that the success what she believes in is not as satisfied as she expected before. The people who are successful in the common acceptable concept of success have many problems such as the disagreement between partners and academic dishonesty in their life. For example, Daniel’s parents always dispute with each other in front of other people, the colleague “conducted a highly unprofessional piece of research” (149). However, Daniel’s attitude towards this kind of situations sometime really astonishes Kate. Kate considers “Daniel is naive in some ways,”(149) and Daniel thinks Kate always take everything so seriously. The conflicts between the two lovers are the way to deal with people and the attitudes to life are so different. To make efforts of reconciling the conflicts, Kate feels painful. But this is the course of rediscovering and readjusting herself.

In Brooklyn, Eilis is a passive character who often requires a push from other characters; without them, she rarely pursues an idea or goal on her own. As such, Miss Kelly is essential in Eilis’s story because she originally forces Eilis into a job at her store, which creates the sequence of events that leads her to move to Brooklyn. It is fitting then that she is the character who finally forces Eilis to go back to America when she continues to procrastinate her departure.

When Eilis moves to Brooklyn, New York, Toibin changes his representation of home, in Brooklyn Eilis’ home is delineated as a place with challenges and an opportunity to grow. A place that allows for expansion and development of her self. Although Enniscorthy offered her a homely and familiar feel, it posed no opportunities for a budding young woman “but she knew also that there was, at least for the moment, no work for anyone in Enniscorthy, no matter their qualifications.”(Toibin 12). Enniscorthy was too small for Eilis, she had wings but the winds in Enniscorthy wouldn’t have been enough for her to reach the horizon of her potential. Eilis wanted

As Colm Tóibín moved to Barcelona he was able to understand the feeling of homesickness. The novel, Brooklyn has an emphasis on homesickness and how Eilis deals with her homesickness. Eilis Lacey handles her homesickness by taking night classes and working a full- time job to distract. The author ends up starting to write a novel while he was in Barcelona. This relates to the protagonist Eilis as they

“Life has to be given a meaning because of the obvious fact that it has no meaning.” Henry Miller

Walker introduces the reader to the protagonist, Celie, through a series of letters. In these letters the reader finds Celie amidst her mother’s death. The author chooses to address her letters to God, giving Celie a greater willpower to survive. Celie’s upbringing gave her maternal authority; as seen through the multiple maternal roles she played through the novel. Her mother’s death forces her to step up and fill a, painful role revealing her inner strength and ability to remain optimistic.The full

In James Joyce’s “Eveline”, Eveline remains in Dublin to care for her father, to take care of the house and the kids, and she realized she was already comfortable in her current home. Eveline has lived in Dublin her whole life in Dublin and has seen her siblings either leave home or pass away through time. Yet she remains in the house that she grew up in, experienced the changes in environment, changes in time, and the change in the people around her. She has seen her mother pass away, her father grow older and crueler. She has witnessed the field “in which they used to play every evening with other people’s children” be destroyed by a man from Belfast who “bought the field and built houses in it – not like their little brown houses but