Did Eilis really have a choice? SPOILERS

I think she did have a choice but, it wasn't an easy one to make. I think in the end this choice was triggered by the shopkeeper. Sometimes, a hideous bitter person who wants to cause damage in other people lives, is the one that ends up doing a favor to someone... unconsciously of course. Sometimes, life does work in mysterious ways.

At the beginning of the movie, Eilis goes to Brooklyn to find a better future but, she is nostalgic. She wants to return to Ireland, to return to the life and familiarity she has known all her life.

As the movie progresses, Eilis' life starts to change. She starts to adapt to her new life and starts to get a life for herself, on her own terms and away from the small-minded town she used to live in.

Then she returns to Ireland. At this point, Eilis states she will return to Brooklyn but, as familiarity starts to return to her, she starts to feel conflicted as there is a part of her that wants to stay. Her mother doesn't have anyone else, her friends are still there, she now could make a living at her town and even had a suitor.

Eilis realized that sooner or later she would have to make a choice but, whatever she chose, there would be something, a part of her life that she would have to leave truly behind. It wasn't easy for her to make that choice. Small-minded as her town and people was, she loved them. She also loved her life in Brooklyn for the things she learned about herself and people around her.

Yes, she was married and dated some other guy. Maybe she should or maybe she shouldn't but, in the end, she is a human being and as she returned to Ireland, she got to be tempted by staying everywhere she went. It was evident that as cold as her mother was, she wanted for Eilis to stay. Her friends wanted her to stay. People who knew her got her a job to stay. She met a guy that would imply for her to have even something else to stay.

Then comes the bitter shopkeeper. She tries to intimidate Eilis by revealing her secret. Eilis gets surprised by the shopkeeper knowing but, in the end, Eilis isn't afraid of her or intimidated. For Eilis this is something she would expect from someone like the shopkeeper.

Eilis states she had forgotten how the town was. The thing here is: Eilis hadn't forgot, she didn't want to remember. At this point, she realizes that by staying in Ireland, she wouldn't be able to live her life in her own terms. She would have to live under the pressure of her town small-minded society and to do what it was expected of her. Eilis was beyond this. It becomes clear to her that she needs to leave the past behind to have a real future. This means to return to her life in Brooklyn.

I agree. I felt that every major point in Tony and Ellis's relationship was initiated by him and the she was pressured into, which to me isn't a healthy relationship. Even the sex scene shows this with their differing expressions, the relationship is clearly one sided with Tony wanting more than Ellis. To me the whole 'relationship' with Jim seemed far more healthy and balanced and Ellis also seemed to feel more comfortable in it and in Ireland than she ever did in Brooklyn. Therefore I don't think her actions reflected what she wanted to do deep down, but more what she felt pressured to do.

She loved Tony. The decision was hard because across the ocean is very far from home. But once she broadened her horizons, it would have been virtually impossible for her to be happy in a small town. She had to chose between a future that was familiar and safe or a future that was new with promise. Hard to do as a young adult.

I think Eilis always wanted to return to Tony, but began feeling obligated to her mother. "I have no one" her mother said over the phone. Then ... "He's come along at just the right time for us" - Eilis' mom to Eilis as they walked towards the church for Nancy and George's wedding. I can see where Eilis would be torn between staying in Ireland and taking care of her Mammy and returning to New York and her promising life there.

Had Eilis stayed in Ireland, I think she'd be a couple of weeks into her relationship with Jim when she'd realize she gave up a passionate love affair for stability, and would be sad for the rest of her life.
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I felt she was quite opportunistic was well - she seemed very happy with Tony - like another user said, Tony brought out the best in her (notice the change in her attitude and clothes - they get brighter, bolder and more fashionable and she definitely stiff out when she returned to Ireland. She also became more outspoken too - ref. her behaviour with Jim when there first introduced in the car - to the point of harshness, I felt), and having experienced the States she became bolder in her attitude - a stark comparison to her timid attitude at the beginning of the movie, period to meeting Tony. I felt that she was weighing her options re Tony and Jim, until Ms. Kelley cornered her into admitting her marriage to Tony. I don't see her wanting to leave the town the very next day as escapism though - to me she simply had enough. She was considering to stay while putting up with people showing small gestures of manipulation (her mother, her friend, her sister's old employer and the old lady at the church) but Ms. Kelley shook her awake to the realities of the small town she grew up in, reminding her what made her leave in the first place.

In the end, she went back because she realised Brooklyn was a better choice, but it definitely wasn't our of her love for Tony, which is why I disliked the ending - they tried to make it look like a pair of lovers who were completely smitten were being reunited, which I wasn't convinced was the case at all.

Oh sorry - to answer your question though, *yes* she had a choice. You always do. She could have stayed in Ireland - she just *chose* *not* to.

Unlike others, I think the shopkeeper was actually doing her a favor and bringing her back to reality, not being malicious.