Part 4 Summary

Brooklyn Part 4 Summary

  • Eilis goes to Enniscorthy to help her mother after the passing of Rose.
  • She sees Rose’s room and it seems so still and Eilis feels nothing. She sobs and wants nothing more than to go to sleep but she feels bad.
  • Eilis’s mother talks only of Rose’s death and asks nothing about Eilis’s past two years in America. That’s messed up. Just sayin.
  • Her and her mother go through Rose’s belongings and her mother keeps pushing Eilis to keep some of Rose’s clothes. Eilis refuses because she has her own clothes and wants to donate Rose’s clothes to charity.
  • Eilis and her mom have piles and piles of thank you letters to send to family and friends that sent condolences for Rose. Eilis’s mother is a neat freak and must check every single letter that they write.
  • Eilis does not mention Tony at all to her mother because she doesn’t know how to bring it up appropriately and feels like her mother won’t understand the situation.
  • Eilis and her mom take a trip to the cemetery to visit Rose’s grave. As they pass people on their way to the cemetery, Eilis receives many compliments of her American clothes and suntan.
  • At Rose’s grave Eilis is overwhelmed with sadness and is haunted by the fact that Rose’s beautiful body is underneath the clay ground. She forces herself to think of Rose’s soul watching over her in heaven with their father.

 

…

 

  • Eilis’s mother tells her that her friends Nancy and Annette are dying to see her. Eilis invites them over and they catch up. Nancy is engaged to George Sheridan and they are getting married at the end of the month. Eilis’s mother said that she and Eilis would attend the wedding even though Eilis is supposed to be back in Brooklyn during that time. Eilis is thus forced to push back her journey back to Brooklyn.
  • Eilis does not tell the girls of her romance with Tony. She fears they won’t understand their secret marriage and that they might spread word around town and Eilis’s mother may find out.

 

…

 

  • Nancy and George invite Eilis and Annette to go to the beach. Only Annette wasn’t really invited. Jim Farrell was. *Remember him? The jerk that ignored Eilis at the Athenaeum over two years ago? Yeah him!*
  • Eilis is still mad at Jim Farrell’s jerky behavior when they last spoke over two years ago and does not wish to be in his presence. They all go to the beach and end up having a nice time. Jim talks to Eilis about America and Rose. They all go out for drinks after the beach.
  • Eilis writes Tony but is no longer counting the days before she goes back to Brooklyn. Strange.
  • The next Sunday the four of them all go to the beach again. Eilis enjoys Jim’s company. Nancy tells Eilis that Jim likes her. Eilis is in disbelief.
  • Jim tries flirting with her on the beach and wants to go swimming with her in the ocean. She wonders how Tony would feel if he knew she was on a double date at the beach.
  • Eilis talks to Jim and she notices his interest in her. He is handsome and smart. He has blue eyes and dark hair. She finds him very nice. He asks her to go swimming and she says yes because he seems innocent and vulnerable.
  • They all go swimming in the ocean and take pictures of each other. Jim wraps his arms around Eilis in their picture. Eilis feels guilty but does not reject him. *What the heck Eilis? What about Tony?!*
  • Eilis wonders how she would feel if she found out Tony was at the beach at Coney Island swimming with some girl. She knows he would never do such a thing. So why is she doing it?

 

…

 

  • The Davis’s Office where Rose used to work was in desperate need of an accountant to figure out the payroll for their employees. They ask if Eilis could go in and balance the payroll. She goes to the office and does an amazing job of balancing all the finances and organizing everyone’s proper pay receipts.
  • After her amazing work, the boss asks to speak with Eilis and offers her a position at the office. Eilis says she is going back to America soon but they tell her not to make up her mind yet.
  • Eilis finds it strange that the office wants her now when just a few years ago Rose begged the same boss  to hire Eilis and he refused.

 

…

no

  • Nancy, George, Eilis and Jim all go out for dinner and everyone at the restaurant is admiring them. Eilis feels proud to be there with Jim.
  • They dance the night away. Before they drive home, Eilis and Jim make out outside. *Eilis you’re a married woman! Excuse me while I go sob*
  • Eilis’s mother is so excited about Jim and Eilis. She wants Eilis to marry him because he inherited his father’s successful pub and will inherit his parents’ home soon when they move to the country. Gold digger.
  • Tony has sent two letters for Eilis but she hasn’t opened them yet or responded. Instead she writes him a quick letter saying she loves him and misses him.

 

…

 

  • When Nancy and George’s wedding arrives, Jim drives Eilis and her mother to the ceremony. Everyone is so excited that Jim and Eilis are an item. Little do they know she is married!
  • At the end of the night, Eilis’s mother gets a ride home so that Eilis and Jim can drive alone together.
  • Nancy’s drunk mother obnoxiously tells Jim and Eilis that they are quite the item and should get married soon. Embarrassed Eilis takes Jim and they leave the reception.
  • Jim takes Eilis to the beach and admits that he’s liked her since the night they first met at the Athenaeum. He was only a jerk because his girlfriend had just broken up with him and he was afraid to get hurt by Eilis. Blah blah blah… When he found out she was moving to America he thought it was just his luck. But when she returned and he saw how great she looked, he just couldn’t resist.
  • Jim invites Eilis over next week to meet his family and attend a ceremony for Rose at the golf club and Eilis gladly accepts. He even asks her if they can get engaged before she goes back to Brooklyn. Eilis says they can talk about the subject another time.
  • Eilis wonders what Jim would say if her found out she was married. She knows he does not seem like the kind of guy that would want to be with a woman who was married. Or a woman who was divorced. She has caught herself in a web and can’t get out.
  • She thinks a lot and believes that she does not love Tony anymore. She feels like if she went back to him it would be because she felt forced. She does not know how to feel. She wonders what her options are and realizes that no matter what she does she will be hurting someone.

 

…

 

  • One day while walking through the town, Eilis is called out by Miss Kelly’s assistant, Mary. Remember Miss Kelly? Eilis’s mean old boss at the grocery store in Enniscorthy?
  • Eilis goes to Miss Kelly’s home. Miss Kelly informs Eilis that she has been speaking with her cousin Madge Kehoe. Can you believe it? Miss Kelly and Mrs. Kehoe are cousins! What a small world …
  • Mrs. Kehoe knows that Eilis and Tony are married and she has passed the knowledge onto her cousin, Miss Kelly. So when Miss Kelly heard the news of Jim and Eilis, she knew something must be said. Eilis has been caught red handed.
  • Eilis calls up the travel agent to book her journey back to Brooklyn. She goes home and cries to her mother and tells her everything about her marriage and Tony and how she does not know what to do.
  • Eilis’s mother tells Eilis that Tony must be an amazing man and she must go back to be with her loving husband. Eilis agrees that Tony is an amazing guy. Her mother says goodbye and does not wish to speak to her until after she leaves for Brooklyn.
  • Rose gets picked up the next day and drops off a letter to Jim’s house revealing the truth and how she is leaving for Brooklyn.
  • As she embarks on her journey she realizes that over the years, Jim will get over her and the fact that she has gone to Brooklyn.
  • But over the years, it will mean so much to Eilis that she is going back to Brooklyn. And that is all she will allow herself to think about.
  • What the heck! What does this mean? What happens with Tony? How does Jim react? I guess we will never know.

 

The End