What role did traumatic loss play in Emilie’s relationships with Keller and Walker? Do you think she’d have taken up with either man without that catalyst?
With no training in psychology, I would still guess that the major rejection by her mother did play a role in her self-worth when it came to relationships. Even considering the times, she put up with way too much abuse from Keller, especially when her father would have found a way to help her out of that circumstance. By the time Walker came along she knew herself better and was able to take action when his behavior became unacceptable.
I think Connie is right about self-worth because of the way her mother treated her but, I am also surprised because Emile was also a strong-willed, young girl who knew what she wanted to do with her life. I was very confused by her falling for Keller as well as staying with him. It just did not match with the Emilie I thought I knew.
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Emilie’s treatment by her mother opened her up to being used by both Keller and Walker because she couldn’t see the negative signals that most other women who grew up in a stable home with both a loving mother and father would have seen. Granny did the best she could, but active rejection by one’s mother, especially with the venom displayed by Delphina seems to me would leave an almost permanent scar.
I agree with Cheryl’s assessment: Emile is portrayed as a resilient woman with a strong support system, which makes her reluctance to disclose Keller’s abuse to her family feel somewhat incongruous. As a result, this narrative choice seems less like an organic development of her character and more like an imposed plot element, introduced to incorporate abuse into the story despite appearing inconsistent with the person Emile had been established to be.