Anyone else feel like Eilis was better suited to be with Jim? Not to mention I found Jim more likeable thanTony, despite less screen time.
shareI´d definetely take Jim, green Ireland, that house and empty beaches over Brooklyn and Italian plumber! Oh, well...
shareTony. He seemed to like her before she was 'americanzed'. He was cute, he was considerate at a time when woman were expected to basically sit and look pretty and wait on their husbands. He knew she wanted to be a bookkeeper. He actually seemed to like the fact that she was a smart cookie, and it didn't seem to me at all like he was pressuring her to do anything, but he did need her to know that he wanted to marry her. Jim was too passive and only noticed her after she came back from America. And she was married to Tony at that point so I could never go for it anyway.
Wildcattin'...Wildcattin'. Pow! I'm gonna go.
I agree that Jim was better. He seemed like a true gentleman. Tony was too pushy and insecure for me. He rubbed me the wrong way.
shareYeah I reckon that Eilis should have told Tony that if he really loved her he would've waited for her return from Ireland to marry him. It's for those very circumstances she found herself in upon her arrival to Ireland i.e. falling in love with Jim Farrell, that I believe it'd have been wiser for them to postpone their nuptials. Imagine if the roles were reversed and Eilis had returned to NYC to find Tony had met another lass he'd have fallen in love with? At the same time I believe Eilis should've been honest with her mom and friends that she had met someone and married him. I cannot understand why some families are uncomfortable with being totally honest with each other e.g. A brother being afraid to offend his sister who is in a relationship with a bloke the brother doesn't like. Honesty, imo, is always the best policy. Like Thomas Paine once said, "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." Why put yourself and those you love in such an awkward and unnecessary position in the first place?!
shareJim would have bored her to pieces. She and Tony had opposite temperaments that completed each other. She was more mature and focused than Jim but he was fun, charming and passionate. The balance each other out well.
shareTony brought out her spark and wit. Their eyes danced when they were together. Upon consideration, I think Tony understood her soft, easily swayed side, and that's why he wanted them to get married. Eilis was easily influenced. It wasn't just fear of losing her, but also giving her a little bit of strength. Let's be honest, the mother was absolutely dire. When she had two daughters, she was still beyond dreary. With Rose still alive, it was still bleak. Mrs. Kelly may have been malicious, but she did tell Eilis "That's it for Rose, then. She's stuck with your mother forever." Once the glamor, and the tension of the choice was over, Eilis would have been in Ireland with a rather dull guy, pretty much responsible for her mother's entire existence.
Admittedly, I am influenced by the book. I think Tony is more attractive, more charming. I think their ages suit better. There's an implication in the book that Jim isn't successful with women, that his last girlfriend (Nancy's sister) dumped him because she couldn't take him anymore, he was such a stick.
I think as long as Tony was working and pulled his weight, he was the better choice. Whereas where would Jim be without the pub? Without that status, how much of a catch would he have been?
I feel for the mother, but no grown up should be their parent's entire existence. Eilis' mother didn't try to get a life of her own. She'd have sucked the life out of Eilis.
I preferred Jim, he wanted to travel so I see no reason the two of them couldn't have had an adventurous life together. Tony came across a bit desperate and totally pressured her into marriage so he could essentially tie her into coming back. Jim seemed like he would have let her take charge of her own life a bit more.
sharecatcole-129-844577 I preferred Jim as well, along with the beautiful Irish countryside and pristine beach, not to mention Jim's grand house. Tony showed a selfish, pushy side by pressuring Ellis to marry him in secret. Why could they not have had an engagement and a beautiful Catholic wedding? Didn't he worry about her getting pregnant? Ellis' reluctance to read his letters showed her hesitancy about the rushed marriage when she had a chance to step back and consider what she had done. Moreover, Tony might prove to be her intellectual inferior, which often wreaks damage to a relationship. Tony has to ask his little brother to help him write the letters, as he is a poor speller. Ellis has been to college and is a professional in comparison to Tony's workman's position. I believe that the clandestine marriage is what pushed Ellis to return. During the voyage back to Brooklyn, even as she was showing the ropes to another greenhorn (pun intended) from Ireland, just as she had been instructed on her first crossing to the US, I wondered whether Ellis would be happy with her plumber hubby in the end.
shareHaha, I have just watched the movie and thought the exact same thing! Jim said he was really keen to get out of Ireland. I was hoping she would go back to New York but take Jim with her!
shareI like Tony better than Jim. In the book, Tony was a very likable character and extremely loving and caring toward Eilis. I think Tony was a better match for her...
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