The Photograph Symbol Analysis

The daguerreotype photograph of Sam Taylor (the former name of Mr. Ryder) that Eliza Jane carries around her neck symbolizes her intense devotion to her former husband, despite the many changes that have occurred over the course of 25 years. When Mr. Ryder tells Eliza Jane that she might not recognize her husband if she met him, considering how many changes 25 years could bring, she insists that she would certainly recognize him, because she has been carrying his picture with her all these years to make sure she never forgets what he looks like. Mr. Ryder asks to see it, saying that “it might help me to remember the original”—although, of course, he already knows that he himself is her long-lost husband. When Eliza Jane gives the photograph to him, Mr. Ryder studies it for a long time, seeing that the photograph has “faded with time” but nonetheless that it is still possible to see “what manner of man it had represented.” This moment symbolizes how distant the world of Mr. Ryder’s youth seems to him now, but also how, deep down, he is the same man as he was then—driven by honor and determined to keep his promises.

However, Mr. Ryder still needs to consider the situation before revealing that he is the same person as the young man in the photograph. Shortly after looking at the photograph, when Eliza Jane has left, he gazes at his own reflection in the mirror, as if comparing himself to the photograph, trying to figure out how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. In this way, the photograph symbolizes both what has changed and what has stayed the same between these two characters in the 25 years that have passed since their last meeting. While their appearances and social positions have both changed considerably, Eliza Jane is just as driven by devotion to her husband as she was then, and Mr. Ryder, as he proves in his final decision to reunite with Eliza Jane, is just as driven by his sense of honor and desire to keep his promises.