Throughout our lives people share commonalities on the idea of home and what it is. Some people think of home as a house they have lived in throughout their life or a city/country they reside in. Although true for some, some people are at a loss for a distinct place to call home. People may think of home as “feeling comfortable in diverse settings and intermingling with people of different cultures” (150), which Stoddard describes as the ordinary description of cosmopolitism. (150) In contrast, people may think of home in the sense that Stoddard mentions; Freud’s idea of the uncanny, “That species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and has long been familiar” (Stoddard 150,). What Freud means is that the feeling of uncanny in relation to home is the frightening thought of returning ‘home’ after a long time, when you have become comfortable in another setting. It is uncanny because it becomes a struggle to fit into the place one currently resides in and the place they originally resided in. In Brooklyn the idea of the uncanny is represented in relationship to Ellis’ attitude of home. Through Eilis’ internal debates with herself, the concrete personal relations she shares in both Enniscorthy and Brooklyn, and her career opportunities in both cities, one can see her sense of home is shown to be uncanny. Ultimately, Eilis’ feeling of home is not static and fixed, instead fluid, bringing into focus the uncanny sense of a cosmopolitan view of home.
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Primarily, in Brooklyn, Toibin uses the third person limited narrative to show Eilis’ private debates within herself, allowing the reader to understand Eilis’ stance on her idea of home. At first, Eilis agreed to venture on her journey to America with...
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...home as a concrete place of memories in her head, that she can look back on and feel the sense of home just as much as physically living somewhere. Although Eilis returns to Brooklyn, she is not making a decision of where she feels home is, more so where she needs to be at that given time. This following from the idea that to feel uncanny is to feel unsure in a place that should be familiar to you, and to feel cosmopolitan you feel that home is multiple places not just singular. Thus, in
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Brooklyn Eilis displays a woman whose attitude of home fluctuates depending on where she lives as someone who travels the world may feel or a fellow immigrant of the world.
Works Cited
Stoddard, Eve Walsh. “Home and Belonging among Irish Migrants: Transnational 47. 1&2 (Summer 2012): 147-171.
Toibin, Cohn. Brooklyn: A Novel. New York: Seribver, 2009.
As Jacqueline got to the age where her grandparents home was just a constant routine, never seen as anything but a cycle, her mother takes her and the family to New York for “new opportunities”. Jackie thinks of the idea as an adventure till she sees the pale grey streets
The definition of home is: the place where one lives permanently. Home is a place where one feels accepted, loved, and comfortable enough to be themselves completely. In Nella Larsen’s “Quicksand”, main character Helga is a bi-racial woman in the 1920’s who struggles internally with where she feels she belongs and where she can call home. Throughout the entire novel Helga moves to many different places to try and feel at home. In the society that Helga is cursed to have to live in, biracial people are not common and rarely accepted in many communities. Personally I don’t feel like Helga would have ever found a place to call her real home, using the definition where home is a permanent place to comfortably live, where she would chose to stay
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In this quote written by Miriam Adeney, the author talks about how the feeling of homeliness is hard to achieve once a person travels and gets to meet new people; since that person has started building relationships with them, whether as a friend, a family member, a significant other, or someone who has meaning to their life. When the bonds are created with these new people, the emotion love is starting to develop. As well as a homely feeling is created within these tight bonds causing emotions to override the ability for one to reason. This quote allows the reader to connect with the meaning that the author is trying to portray by using humanly emotions to tie the audience in.
... who settled on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where we could see packs of books telling the stories and experiences of past immigrants. I felt the rush and the excitement that characterize the city, but I also couldn’t get enough of the multiple cultures in New York. One would spend days and weeks in the “City that Never Sleeps” but still, it would take many more to truly experience every aspect of it or understand how the diverse ethnicities were able to survive and succeed there.
In the novels Brooklyn and The Translator we see the theme of the home prevalent in many different forms. The idea of home, leaving home, and returning home is a very proficient focus point for the paper. In addition, the concept of home means something very different to each character and how issues such as immigration/emigration, exile, and going back home play out in the narrative. From a rainy Ireland to a bustling New York City, or perhaps from the Western part of Sudan to Chad; the people demonstrate the idea of nationalism and a purpose of being.
Knott , Kim, and Seán McLoughlin, eds. Diasporas Concepts, Intersections, Identities. New York : Zed Books, 2010. Print.
Colson Whitehead explores this grand and complex city in his collection of essays The Colossus of New York. Whitehead writes about essential elements to New York life. His essays depict the city limits and everyday moments such as the morning and the subway, where “it is hard to escape the suspicion that your train just left... and if you had acted differently everything would be better” (“Subway” 49). Other essays are about more once in a while moments such as going to Central Park or the Port Authority. These divisions are subjective to each person. Some people come to New York and “after the long ride and the tiny brutalities... they enter the Port Authority,” but for others the Port Authority is a stop in their daily commute (“The Port Authority” 22).Nonetheless, each moment is a part of everyone’s life at some point. Many people live these moments together, experiencing similar situations. We have all been in the middle of that “where ...
Many of these Irish immigrants had no skills, no previous experience and no money. They also had only a few clothes and little hope as well as little education. In hopes to finding better times and opportunities, however, instead they encountered times no better than the conditions they left behind in Ireland. The living conditions were not glamorous or even comfortable. Often times t...
Colson Whitehead ponders the essence of New York in his collection of essays titled, The Colossus of New York. Throughout the entire collection of essaysWhitehead inquires about what New York stands for based on the journey’s of its inhabitants and visitors. By establishing a sense of authenticity and creating an intimate relationship between him and the reader, Whitehead effectively provides his readers with a genuine account of New York. This genuineness found in Whitehad’s writing has not been met without criticism. Wyatt Mason’s critique of Whitehead’s essays reiterates throughout the review that Whitehead’s account go New York isn’t unique to New York and that the essayist isn’t particularly attentive to detail. While I agree with the
We are shown that Eilis’ inability to make up her own mind about working for Miss Kelly and moving to Brooklyn result in the opportunity for her to have experiences away from home and her family. She becomes more able to assert herself and speak her own mind. Far from stunting her growth, Eilis’s inability to make up her mind results in her having experiences that change her into a more grown up and serious
All of the hotel labels on their bags are evidence of their busy traveling lifestyle, and their conversations show that they have a struggling romantic relationship. The girl in the story, Jig, explains that their unexciting lifestyle consists of nothing but "look at things and try new drinks." The absence of discussing the girl's feelings and emotions to the American suggests that their relationship is not meaningful or serious. The simple, and calm setting as well as the lack of imagery on their side of Ebro hills reflects their life, but contrasts the rise of tension in their conversations.
Mac Einri, P. 1997. Some Recent Demographic Developments in Ireland. [Online] Available from: http://migration.ucc.ie/etudesirlandaises.htm [Accessed 7th May 2012]
“Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends always belong, and laughter never ends (Robot check).” A place becomes a home for me when I am around all the things that I enjoy and love. For example, when I am around everyone that I love, I enjoy a peaceful environment and the beautiful landscapes around me. The interpretation of home for me is not a physical thing that I see or that I can remember or even certain thoughts that I can relate, but it is a sensation that overcomes me when I envision being in the comfort of my own home. However, I know that this is a feeling that is calming to my soul and it quietly reassures me that I genuinely belong in a place where I can be free from people constantly judging me.