Brooklyn (Colm Toibin) Essay

Cultural context reveals the world of the text. It shows us how the world impinges upon the lives of the characters. The novel I have studied is Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Throughout the text we see many examples of the values of society. The position of women, men and family intrinsically establish the central characters in a specific position. The text has a dual setting between the 1950’s Catholic Ireland and the post world war two world of Brooklyn, America. The two locations help to expose the contrasting values and attitudes of the characters in their world. The role of women in society is vital for my understanding of the cultural context. It is predominantly stereotypical for the time. In both locations, women are subservient, with frequent families being patriarchal. In both locations, a woman’s main desire was ultimately to be married to a wealthy man. This is seen when Nancy and George are in a relationship. Many people respect Nancy at this time because George is from a high class of people, and this is considered to be an achievement for Nancy. At a later date, Nancy marries George and she becomes a well-valued and admired person in society. This is a contrast to Brooklyn, where, often women become educated before starting a family. Eilis’ career opportunities increase while she is in Brooklyn, as she aspires to be an accountant, rather then just a bookkeeper. A main value of women in society was their appearance. We see this in the lengthy preparation for the dances. It plays an important social role in meeting potential husbands. The behavior and values of women at the time is extremely important for the cultural context. Women were expected to adhere to certain moral values. This can be seen in both Ireland and Brooklyn at the dances. In Brooklyn, Eilis dances with Tony and knows she cannot dance with another boy after this. This shows us the attitudes towards women at this time. However, this attitude is felt much stronger in Ireland than Brooklyn. We can see this with Ms. Fortini. She reflects a contrasting attitude, being more independent and modern then the rest of the characters. A key moment in the text, which shows the values women have in society, would be when Ms. Kehoe locks the basement gate of her house. She  does this because she does not approve of the way Eilis acts with Tony. This is a prime example of how women are expected to behave in society. This example is intrinsically linked with the encroaching power of the Catholic Church and the way it shapes the values and attitudes of the characters in the novel. The power of the Catholic Church is clearly evident in the novel. It helps shape the attitudes most of the characters have. The power and influence of Father Flood is distinct throughout the novel. His values of the Church are thou rally respected and admired by everyone in the community. He holds substantial power in both Ireland and Brooklyn, convincing Eilis’ mam to allow her to go to Brooklyn, and getting Eilis a job and a place to stay once she arrived there. In Brooklyn, we see many people know Father Flood, as he was able to get Eilis a place in college, to help further her career. The church also has a controlling aspect on the characters moral values. This is seen with Eilis and Ms. Kehoe’s view on relationships and sex. Their attitude towards relationships are shaped around the beliefs of the Church, an example of this is when Eilis asks Tony to go to confession with her, as she sees sex before marriage as a sin. Ms. Kehoe realizes Tony has been in Eilis’ room soon after this, so she locks the gate to stop this from happening again. In my opinion, the Catholic Church has a substantial influence on Ms. Kehoe compared to Eilis because Eilis marries Tony, but cheats on him in Ireland with Jim. This is against Catholic Church’s teachings but that does not seem to influence Eilis in any way. In the end, she decides to go back to Tony. This might be because she realizes she has sinned, and because of the influence of the Church on her values, she cannot divorce Tony, she has to accept her life in Brooklyn instead. Power is an extremely important factor in the cultural context of 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn. The power structure in society is the Catholic Church. It helps shape the values of the characters, as many of them live their lives by the Church’s beliefs. Eilis’ mother is an example of this, as she hardly knows Father Flood but immediately trusts him because he is a member of the Catholic Church. He has the power in society and the characters look up to him for guidance. Another position of power seems to be held by those with money. Throughout the book it seems to be an important factor, more so in Ireland then Brooklyn. People with money were treated superior to others, and a woman’s goal was to sustain a wealthy man. Those with money occupy certain positions of class. This can be seen in both societies. It was a very class structured society, with the Church and people with money at the top. Our first example of this is when Eilis and Nancy are at the dance, and Eilis realizes Jim does not want anything to do with her as she and Nancy were from a lower class. He refuses to dance with Eilis and ignores her for the rest of the night. Power was a major influence on marriage, as women were respected a considerable amount more if they married someone with power. Their view was that if they married someone with power, they had achieved a large goal in their life. The influence of power in 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn shaped the values and attitudes of the characters. Undoubtedly the personal freedom of Eilis and many other characters is affected by the world in which she resides. In Ireland, Eilis’ freedom is largely restricted because she is a woman. She is expected to marry and start a family, and there is no emphasis on her education. She has very little freedom as a teenager; an example of this is when she goes to the dance. Because of the society she lives in, she is expected to dance with only one boy for the whole night; this does not give her any freedom to do otherwise. Many of her decisions in Ireland are forced ones, such as when she went to work with Ms. Kelly. Ms. Kelly assumed Eilis would want to work for her, and did not give Eilis the chance to say no. She did not treat Eilis with respect but Eilis still had to keep working for her. This is greatly contrasted with her life in Brooklyn. Eilis had a large amount of personal freedom in Brooklyn, allowing her to explore the town she lives in. Her decisions were taken solely by herself, unlike in Ireland. She was able to decide if she wanted to further her career in college, whereas in Ireland she would have been expected to become a bookkeeper, but never an accountant. She also had freedom where she worked, with the employees and her boss treating her with respect, this contrasts with Ms. Kelly’s shop in Ireland. She was given opportunities to advance in her role as a sale assistant in the shop in Brooklyn, unlike Ireland where she would always be selling things in Ms. Kelly’s shop. Ultimately, Eilis is affected by the cultural context. It impinges upon her world. This is greatly seen in her last decision in the book, to accept her life in America with Tony. In modern day Ireland and Brooklyn, she would have been free to get a divorce and stay with Jim, but because at the time she was greatly influenced by the Catholic Church and her role in society, this option was not available for her. We discover at the end of the novel Eilis is a conformist, as she allows her values and attitudes to be shaped by 1950’s Ireland and Brooklyn. Overall, my understanding of cultural context is that it is the world of the text. In my opinion, the characters in Brooklyn accept the world in which they live in, and allow their values to be shaped by the time and place. Throughout the book we see the characters being influenced by the role of women, the Catholic Church and the people with power in their society.a

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