Dept. of Speculation

The letters that the narrator and her husband write to each other are symbolic of love and connection. Shortly after the narrator discovers that the husband is having an affair, she remembers that “[t]hey used to send each other letters. The return address was always the same: Dept. of Speculation” (122). The letters were the narrator and her husband’s means of communicating at the start of their relationship. The inside joke of their customary return address underscores the intimacy of their epistolary exchanges and emphasizes their playfulness and creativity. They also used the letters to share ideas, suggested by the reference to “speculation” in the return address. The reference to a “department” of thought and ideas also implies that the couple was creating an imaginary and enchanting world together, from which they could speak honestly and openly with each other.

In the narrative present, the letters “are still in [the couple’s] house”; the husband “has a box of them on his desk” and the narrator has a box on hers (122). The couple’s decision to retain the letters over the years illustrates their desire and attempts to preserve an important era of their relationship as a couple.