How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Eilis concentrated on Rose's spirit and tried to keep her mind from dwelling on what was happening to Rose's body just beneath them in the damp clay. (4.41)
In other words, Eilis is trying to think of Rose as she was at her best, not how she is now. We're sure big sis would have wanted it that way, too. After all, Rose did a lot for her sister, and it's only fitting that Rose be remembered as she truly was—classy, talented, and a monster on the golf course.
Quote #8
In the morning it was hard not to think that she was Rose's ghost, being fed and spoken to in the same way at the same time by her mother. (4.102)
Unable to fully accept her eldest daughter's death, Mrs. Lacey tries to make Rose's memory live on by turning Eilis into a walking, talking wax replica of her deceased older sister. It's a little creepy—like Mrs. Lacey is a psychic trying to channel a spirit.
Quote #9
And not only that, but everything else that had happened in Brooklyn seemed as though it had almost dissolved and was no longer richly present for her. (4.190)
Now that she's returned to Ireland, Eilis is put in a strange position—it's Brooklyn that's in her past. Funny how things work out, huh? In fact, it almost feels like she never left Ireland in the first place, like it was just one really long (and insanely detailed) dream that she's just now waking up from.