My Name Is Emilia del Valle

Two photographs of Emilia appear in the novel, and their appearances all illustrate how she changes over the course of the novel. Photographs in the 19th century were much less readily available than they are in modern times. Allende emphasizes both the difficulty and the expense through the scene of Emilia being photographed at the opening of the novel.

The photo of Emilia taken as a young child plays an important role in two scenes. The first is when Molly commissions the photograph to show Gonzalo Andrés del Valle that he has a daughter and to reproach him for denying them. Emilia and Molly spend much of their lives thinking that Gonzalo was apathetic toward his daughter’s existence; however, the second appearance of her childhood photograph proves this to be untrue. Showing Emilia the photograph, Gonzalo comments, “I am dying of sadness over a wasted life, over my frivolity and selfishness” as he “blubber[s]” (120). To him, the photograph does not symbolize his apathy; rather, it signifies his great regret. For Emilia, seeing this photograph once again and gaining a different understanding of its context shows her that her relationship with her father is much more complicated than she first assumed.