My Name is Emilia del Valle: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

In the spring of 1891, the distant country of Chile falls into a civil war. People in the United States learn about it when the U.S. government tries to impede the shipment of weapons purchased from American manufacturers by the insurgents as a show of support for the Chilean government, whom it recognizes as an ally (and from whom it wishes to extract valuable minerals). Mr. Chamberlain tasks Eric and Emilia with covering the story of the weapons and with introducing the conflict to the Examiner’s readership.

When it becomes clear that Mr. Chamberlain is considering sending Eric to Chile to cover the escalating conflict, Emilia seizes her opportunity. Explaining to the incredulous men that her father is Chilean, she convinces Mr. Chamberlain not only to send her too, but to allow her to start reporting under her own name. He wants Emilia focus on “human interest” stories and leave war reporting to Eric, but they divvy up the tasks differently. After a coin flip, they decide that Eric will cover the conflict from the insurgents’ viewpoint while Emilia will embed herself with the official government. Prior to heading south,  Eric travels to New York to investigate the weapons shipment while Emilia gathers all the background information she can about San Francsico.

Molly supports the trip because she’s gleefully excited by the idea Emilia might finally force Mr. del Valle to take responsibility for his actions. Don Pancho doesn’t want her to abandon him for her biological father—an impossibility, she assures him. In fact, she has doubts about leaving home, too. But she has a job to do. Using don Pancho’s encyclopedic collection of newspaper clippings and notes he brings her from the San Francsico Free Library (open to men only), Emilia conduct background research. In April of 1891, Emilia del Valle distills that research into an informational column titled “Chile, Warrior Country.”

As described by Emilia, Chile is home to the Indigenous Mapuche people (labeled “Araucanos” by their colonizers), and a White elite descended from European colonists. The country acquired land rich in valuable minerals, including the nitrates necessary for gunpowder and agricultural fertilizers, at the conclusion of the War of the Pacific (1879-1884). In 1886 José Manuel Balmaceda became president (here, Emilia observes that Chile’s government is an oligarchy enfranchising wealthy White landholders rather than a true democracy). In early 1891, conflict between the president and a faction of the congress over the national budged escalated into civil war. The navy (and Great Britain) are supporting the insurgents in the north; the army (and the United States) have thrown their weight behind the official government based out of the capital in the south. A forbidding desert divides the two sides.

Before Emilia sets sail, Molly gives her a letter to deliver to Mr. del Valle. Its vitriolic and spiteful tone horrifies Emilia, but she obediently promises to do her mother’s bidding.

Emilia sets out for Chile by way of Los Angeles, with a trunk, a suitcase, and a hatbox filled with sturdy, climate-appropriate clothing (she’s jealous that the male Eric can travel with little more than the suit on his back). In Los Angeles, she meets Sheriff Gard, who assures her that he and other officials will prevent the Chilean agents from loading anything onto their ship—the Itata—in an American port. His adversaries foil him by using a small, intercoastal ship (too small to merit inspection or draw attention) to clandestinely ferry the weapons from Los Angeles to an island outside of US jurisdiction where they rendezvous with the Itata. With Eric Whelan and the guns aboard, the Itata begins its journey south on May 7th.

Meanwhile, Emilia secures passage on the USS Charleston, the battleship tasked with pursuing the Itata. After a brutal, three-day bout of seasickness she acclimates and spends the voyage talking to the sailors and learning to play poker, quickly becoming the ship’s most successful gambler of matchsticks. She briefly accepts the attention of a junior officer, but he’s not a good lover and she quickly grows bored of him. She’s disappointed that the Charleston and the Itata don’t meet because she relishes the thought of something as exciting as a battle—but only because she doesn’t yet understand how brutal war is.