The Irish Female Migrant, Silence and Family Duty in Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn

Abstract

Set in the 1950s, Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn (2009) traces the life experiences of Eilis Lacey, who is urged by her family to migrate to Brooklyn due to the lack of opportunities for young women in her native Enniscorthy, a small town in rural Ireland. Just as she begins to establish a new life in America, a tragic event at home calls her back to Ireland. During her visit, Eilis faces the terrible dilemma of having to choose between her sense of familial duty and the fulfillment of her own desires. In his novel, Toibin provides a subtle and complex portrayal of the socio-familial pressures affecting the life of the protagonist, whose unverbalised thoughts speak for the decisions she is not allowed to make. In this way, Toibin denounces the historical and cultural silences surrounding the subjectivity of the Irish female migrant.