Option Two – General vision and viewpoint


The introduction of Miss Kelly contributes to the negative general vision and viewpoint at this stage in the film. She is mean-spirited and snobbish and enjoys lording it over others. Back in her shop after the Mass, Miss Kelly gives preference to Mrs Brady, a wealthy woman in the town, over the other customers queueing patiently. Not only that, Miss Kelly scornfully admonishes a shopper who wants to buy shoe polish, saying that the woman needed it before now as she glances down at the woman’s presumably scuffed shoes. When Eilis tells her that she is leaving for America, Miss Kelly interrupts to snap that Eilis won’t be needed in the shop any more. It is obvious that the bitter and spiteful Miss Kelly grudges Eilis her chance to make a better life for herself and wants to take the good out of it in any way she can. In a perfectly calculated and cruel parting shot, Miss Kelly points out that Rose, Eilis’s sister, will now be left as her mother’s sole carer. She calls Eilis’s new beginning ‘the end’ for Rose, and Eilis’s crestfallen expression shows that Miss Kelly’s comment has hit home. Another way to view Miss Kelly’s role in the film is to see her as the epitome of all that is wrong with life in small-town Ireland in the 1950s, a world Eilis is about to escape. There is little doubt that if Eilis were to remain in Enniscorthy, she would have few opportunities and would always be subject to the bullying of people like Miss Kelly.


The feelings of pessimism engendered by the opening scenes gradually give way to a sense of hope and optimism when Eilis leaves Enniscorthy and travels to New York. Admittedly, there is sadness in her parting from her beloved mother and sister but that is tempered by the constant reminders of the limitations of life in Ireland. When Eilis is packing her case, Rose is dismayed by how few clothes Eilis has and wishes she could have done more for her younger sister. However, she also knows that, on a practical level, simply buying more clothes is not enough: ‘I can’t buy you a future. I can’t buy you the kind of life you need’.


Although the journey on the ship to America is uncomfortable at first, the mood improves as soon as Eilis’s self-possessed, glamorous cabinmate takes her in charge and advises her how to cope with the voyage and the journey through customs. (The young woman is not named in the film, but in the script she is called Georgina.) Georgina represents what Eilis may become, and her disparaging comments about Ireland compared to America make us hopeful that Eilis too will find her feet and may, in time, become equally sophisticated and confident. As Eilis walks through the immigration gate into her new life, she is bathed in blinding bright light, symbolising her positive new life in Brooklyn.


Relationships


The view of love and marriage in Brooklyn is largely positive, presenting us with an ultimately optimistic general vision and viewpoint. Eilis Lacey is pursued by two eligible men, Tony and Jim; both men care for her deeply and can offer her a secure future. The love triangle makes the viewer a little pessimistic for a time, but the manner in which Eilis resolves the conflict between her feelings for both men is uplifting and demonstrates the value of a truly loving relationship.


When Eilis first arrives in New York, she is lonely and misses her family and friends, but things begin to look up as soon as she meets Tony. Her supervisor in work comments that Eilis is ‘like a different person’. Eilis attributes this new-found happiness to her new boyfriend. Her confidence and improved mood create the impression that love is a positive and affirming force.


Eilis and Tony’s relationship is nurturing and constructive. Although they are not equal in every way, they respect and admire each other’s strengths. Eilis is better educated than Tony and can run verbal rings around him when she wants to. This is evident in their first meeting when he tells her that he really likes Irish girls and Eilis asks if she was the only one willing to dance with him. Tony is flustered and replies, ‘Oh, no, it wasn’t…’ Eilis instantly responds with, ‘Oh, so you danced with loads of others?’


Leaving Certificate English 423 Excellence in Texts


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