California is the remembered home Scott Carey invokes during a marital argument: he says he was happy there before leaving, making the move a source of grievance as well as a point of dispute over responsibility.

Prior Home and Departure

Scott recalls that he and Louise came from California to their present circumstances. He raises the move while questioning whether his decision to go into business with Marty was really what brought them away, and says he had been happy there. His unfinished thought leaves the circumstances of that happiness and departure unexplained.

Place in the Marital Dispute

The memory of California becomes part of Scott’s argument about who bears responsibility for their situation. When Louise attributes his refusal to return to anger and hurt, he insists that returning would be pointless. California therefore stands in the exchange both for a happier life he remembers and for a past to which he says he will not go back.