Crossing to Safety

Chapter 4 takes place in the years following the Second World War, during a trip the Langs and Morgans take to Italy. During the trip, Larry reflects on his own personal trajectory, from his humble beginnings in Albuquerque to his work in academia and letters. Larry reveals that he had no intention to follow in his father’s footsteps but fostered his own ambitions beyond and outside of it. In Italy, Larry has the intuition that he has “arrived” but is unsure of what that means: “There, one September morning, it hit me that things were altogether other than what they had been for a long time. Wherever it was that we were going, we had arrived, or at least come into the clear road” (242). Italy is meant to be a restful vacation for Larry and Sally, yet Larry habitually rises early to work. On one morning, he wakes Sally to watch the vendors and their animals arrive at the marketplace; they remark together on how strange the experience is for them, as Americans, yet perfectly customary in this different context. They have learned to manage Sally’s handicaps due to polio but residual stresses remain; Sally worries about being a burden to Larry and his work.