Lillian's Camera

The camera Lillian perpetually carries with her symbolizes the essence of Lillian's heart and spirit. Because of Lillian's marked reclusiveness and tendency towards hyper introversion, the camera is one of the only means through which both Sam and the reader can access her interiority. Indeed Lillian's companions often liken the camera to an appendage or a child; the mechanism also seems the only way Lillian feels most like herself. When without it, those around her grow worried and Lillian appears frazzled or deeply distressed. The camera is Lillian's true eye, the way she understands and process both her interior and exterior worlds.

Lillian

Lillian's character represents female empowerment and independence. Despite the era in which she lives, the profound familial, cultural, political, and legal pressures against Lillian, she proves herself to be fiercely strong-willed. Her decisions to move to New York alone, pursue an artistic...