In Steven Millhauser’s “The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman,” Elaine is a quiet woman who is dependable about paying her rent and never misses work. She is quiet and likes to stay to herself, according to the landlady, Mrs. Walters. Elaine has disappeared, leaving all of her belongings behind, including the key to her apartment, creating a mystery as to how she disappeared.
The townspeople and former classmates struggle to remember Elaine, “though no one doubted she had actually been there.” (25)
The narrator is disturbed by his inability to recall her except for on two occasions in which he could not see her face. “It was if she had no face, no features.” (29) He feels guilty because “It was as if none of us had ever looked at her…” (31) The narrator realizes that Elaine did not suddenly disappear, but over time, each time someone avoided her, averted their eyes from her, she was “gradually being erased.” (pg.34)
“Gradually the posters became rain-wrinkled and streaked with grime, the blurred photos seemed to be fading away, and then one day they were gone, leaving behind a faint uneasiness that itself dissolved slowly in the smoke scented autumn air” (21)
The Elaines of the world, like the posters, begin to fade because of others’ disregard for them. As the narrator, we too are guilty of murder.