How does Tóibín explore the complex nature of love in Brooklyn?
In Colm Toibin’s his novel Brooklyn, Colm Toibin aims to encapsulate the depth of love, and hence why love can often be defined differently for each individual, according to their ideals and beliefs, often standardised to the time and place they are in. Needs to have another term for love, how are you defining love? Romantic? Familial? Companion? This makes the emotion be viewed as variable and multifaceted, creating its a sense of complexity. Toibin identifies the depths of love through the many relationships between the characters in the novel, demonstrating how different perspectives, and views or values can affect how one chooses to ‘love’ , providing the variability in love, which further molds why love can be so intricate. Further, Toibin instills how a sense of time, and socio-historical context, acts as a guideline to confine behaviour in a regulated manner- to allow for successful assimilation into society -deeming how someone should present their ideals about love. Toibin also juxtaposes between Ireland and Brooklyn, and the expectations set in both settings, and thus aims to display how the roles of individuals, specifically the role of women as housewives in the 1950s and the importance of marital traditions being kept, can make it difficult to ‘love’ others, adding an extra dimension about to the nature of love, and why it may be seen as difficult to comprehend.
Toibin creates the personalities of many characters in the novel to demonstrate the eclectic views and values expected in the time and setting of the novel. These differing views and values are the central point throughout the course of the book The examiner will know that it occurs throughout the novel that aim to display the variability of the nature of love. From the outset of the story, Toibin creates a dichotomy between superficial love and true founded love, identified in Eilis’ verbal exchange with Miss Kelly, chronicling that Miss Kelly’s job offer was ‘lovely’ , despite Eilis attempting to think of something smart to say back ‘without being openly rude’, providing insight into how she endeavours to ‘love’ Miss Kelly enough to gain something for her true loved ones- Rose and her mother- despite knowing ‘she had nothing’. This instills the notion that how someone views another can affect the extent they try to ‘love’ , particularly in an attempt to gain something of value from the situation.
This provides insight into how variability can create a sense of depth to an emotion . Additionally, Toibin displays Rose as a ‘beautiful’ and ‘glamorous’ girl, of whom Eilis near idolizes, and further utilizes her near Eilis’ departure to Brooklyn, when Eilis suddenly realizes with great ‘force and clarity’ that Eilis’ ‘leaving’ signifies that Rose must stay home to care for her mother, exhibiting how Toibin’s manipulation of Rose as a ‘sacrifice’ can show the extent to which a person’s love can be so profound for someone else, extending to Eilis’ corresponding vow to not give even ‘the smallest hint of how she felt’, creating a conflict of interest between two different perspectives on the same universal dimension of love, further clarifying how the root of love is deemed to be immensely variable, and somewhat complex to understand.
By laying out a linear plot-line set in the 1950s, Toibin engenders the views and values expected by society in that time frame, creating the guidelines that people must conform to in order to successfully assimilate into society, shifting how they present their ideals about ‘love’. Toibin deliberately uses characters such as Miss Kelly to present the expectations placed particularly in Enniscorthy, exemplified by Miss Kelly’s knowledge of Eilis’ lack of a ‘job at all’, embodying how the lack of financial stability in Ireland is looked down upon. Additionally, Toibin further embodies how societal values are the main influence in determining how we present our love for both ourselves and others- as evidenced when EIlis was happy to ‘stay here and take care of her mother’, hoping ‘they would manage somehow’ despite finding difficulty in maintaining financial stability, believing that ‘maybe she would find other work’ to help take care of her family, and consequently, presents how hard Eilis is willing to work to provide a means for her family, as well as a respectable stature in the society around her, creating another aspect that contributes to how someone may choose to present their emotions- particularly love- to others, complicating its nature by adding a contextual factor which may determine how it is viewed and presented.
By creating two main settings in the novel, Toibin creates a juxtaposition between the values present in the 1950s, in both Ireland and Brooklyn. In doing so, Toibin highlights particular roles that are expected to be maintained, such as the role of women as housewives in the 1950s, and the tradition to uphold many marital expectations and maintained Maintained what?, and how these contribute to how love is determined by external factors outside the individual's control. factors that are not inherently created by the individual, but rather from those around them. Specifically, Toibin displays how a different setting can contribute to personal growth, identified shown through in EIlis' slow departure from shyness and conservatism, to a more outgoing and hopeful individual, which allows her to return to Ireland feeling ‘oddly confident’ - exemplifying how a change in setting can contribute to a greater sense of self-love, which further contributes to why love can be so complex-as it has many expectations that mold its nature. Further, Toibin’s final events in the novel chronicle the capricious nature of Eilis, stating that she has ‘to go back’, carrying ‘something with her, something close to glamour’ that compels her to depart ‘back to Brooklyn’ - acting as the source of conflict between the worlds-Ireland and Brooklyn-and how they intertwine to ultimately overwhelm her, confusing her to believe that ‘she did not love Tony now’ but still continued to her journey back to Brooklyn, outlining how the ideal of love can create conflict, and thus confusion, especially when torn between two different settings, elevating the view that the consequences of loving someone or something can create agony for one, adding to why it may be derived in a complex manner- as it is determined by many factors that cannot be controlled at times.
Toibin creates a sense of variability in Brooklyn, through the use of friendships and familial relationships, which contribute to the dimensions that love can be expressed as, defining its origins as broad and in-depth, and hence, viewed as ‘complex’. Furthermore, Toibin demonstrates the contribution the socio-historical context of a setting can contribute to the views of emotions-particularly love- as well as intentionally juxtaposing between two settings- Ireland and Brooklyn- to show how societal roles can also influence ones decisions, which add to the finality that the comprehensibility of emotions-specifically love- is determined by the settings and the values in that setting , adding to why it may be interpreted as complex in nature.
Just a few notes:
1. Quotes need to use " " not ' ' if directly quoting from the book/film, singular ones are used when referencing ideas.
2. You need to find another way of saying 'love', I know its a hard word to get synonyms for, but I would define it in different ways. Like in the introduction I would explain that there are different types of love and then refer to them by those names and variations so it sounds more interesting and less repetitive.
3. Remember to keep in third person, present tense.
4. Your conclusion (I know most teachers disagree) should not be a summary of your contention and main arguments. It needs to be a few sentence continuation of your piece which adds depth/context and is a logical extension to your piece.
5. I would like to see a strong contention, not just a reiteration of the prompt. I think a strong personal opinion statement is best, and challenging the prompt is also good. You shouldn't fully agree or disagree, but be somewhere close to either. "The intricate nature of emotion is explored through the changing views, values, societal roles and scenery in which Toiblin presents his characters. Although he focuses on the complex essence of love, he also communicates to readers that it can be simple and pure." I know its not perfect, especially with that prompt, but its a start.
6. Try to copy and paste the essay into the forum post, makes it so much easier to read and mark.
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