My Brilliant Friend

The shoes that Lila designs and makes with her brother, Rino, in secret from their father, Fernando, are a symbol of female creativity and autonomy. When Lila abandons school, she also abandons the dream of writing a novel like Little Women and endeavors to become rich by going into the shoe business like her father. She draws a page of shoes that “she had invented […] in their entirety and in every part […] they didn’t resemble any that were seen in the neighborhood, or even those of the actresses in the photo novels” (116). Elena is impressed, but Lila wishes to start more humbly by making a simple pair of men’s shoes “just to demonstrate to her father how beautiful and comfortable they were” (117). She is convinced that Fernando will be so impressed he will request a line of production. Lila’s preference to begin with the functional elegance of men’s shoes, rather than the capricious fantasy of women’s, is symbolic as she seeks to win over her father on her own terms.

However, Lila’s creativity is thwarted on two accounts: first, by rash, ungrounded Rino who cannot resist showing the shoes to their father and taking credit for them before Lila considers them ready, and, second, by her father who is jealous and controlling. Lila protects the shoes after Fernando’s outburst, hiding them in a little room where she goes to visit sometimes “when no one was home” (182). Arguably, the secrecy of this ritual demonstrates the shame that accompanies wasted work. 

Later, the shoes become a bargaining chip for Lila’s powerful suitors. But, while Marcello is eager to be pleased and demands to see the shoes he says are his exact size, Stefano tells the truth—they are a little tight. Stefano’s vision goes beyond this single pair of shoes; he wants to expand the Cerullos’ business. When he frames Lila’s original shoe designs, Lila imagines that Stefano is celebrating and enabling her creativity. And, on their wedding day, she wears a pair of shoes she herself has designed. Specifically, she chooses a pair “with low heels, to avoid seeming too much taller than Stefano,” a gesture that indicates she is subordinating her characteristic desire to stand out in order to conform to the traditional, lower-status role of wife (314). However, Lila is sad because “the mind’s dreams have ended up under the feet;” now that she has the shoes, she is not sure they or the marriage are the fullest expression of her potential (314).The biggest insult, though, comes when Marcello Solara shows up wearing the shoes she spent months “making and unmaking” (331). Lila is horrified that, rather than celebrate the fruits of her talents, Stefano has taken control of them.