Elba

Elba is a recurring destination in the narrator’s relationship with Emily, linking her attempt to establish a life there with his return from military service and their later, uneasy reconnection. It is less a settled refuge than a place where separation, hope, and the limits of their relationship become visible.

Emily’s Return and College

After leaving Washington State, Emily returns to Elba and attends college. The narrator is relieved that she is no longer far away and can be contacted again, so he calls when he can. Their conversations offer little reassurance: he tells himself he will soon be coming home, while refusing to admit that his return may not please her, despite believing he has long understood this. His awareness and his self-deception coexist.

Emily asks him for money, and he pays her fall-term tuition. He takes the request as a sign that things are all right between them. The payment therefore connects Elba with both practical support for Emily’s education and the narrator’s effort to read continued contact as evidence of a secure relationship.

A Stop on the Way Home

After leaving the Army, the narrator returns to Ohio and makes a stop in Elba. Emily wants a divorce, and they divorce before he continues home. The stop brings their separation into direct focus: Elba is again a place where the narrator encounters Emily, but this time the encounter ends their marriage rather than sustaining his hope of reunion.

The Greyhound Station

Later, the narrator goes to the Greyhound bus station to meet Emily as she travels toward Elba. She has been living with her father in Florida, where she began injecting drugs. The narrator says he had never imagined this development. Their meeting in Elba is only a three-hour stopover, giving the place another brief, transitional role in their relationship. Across these returns, Elba marks moments when closeness seems possible, but does not resolve the distance between them.