Chapter 64: 59 – Farewell, Qhoyre; Onward, Shiz

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This page reveals plot details from Chapter 64 of Elphie. Read on only if you are up to date.

Summary

Months of preparation pass before the day of departure. Nanny, Nessa, and Shell will stay in Qhoyre. Elphaba stomps around in new miner’s boots while fees are mysteriously covered—perhaps by Pari’isi Menga’al or Unger Bi’ix. On a final visit, Menga’al gives Elphie a vegetable pearl earbob that belonged to his late nephew Pari’isi To’or. Elphie thanks him politely, then walks to the river and hurls the token away. She wants no souvenirs of friendship; she spurns obligations of affection.

On leaving day, Nanny dispenses tearful advice and finally hides under her apron. Shell goes into hiding. Nessa comes forward barefoot in the window light, which seems to “denature the world.” Elphaba gives Nessa a smooth black stone she found near the lagoon, recalling their childhood trick of turning a black stone into a marsh plum overnight. She urges Nessa to “hex” her own life through change, not magic. The sisters walk side by side in silence, not embracing but sharing parallel shadows.

The rest is conjecture. The narrator imagines Frex and Elphaba traveling west on a rural route to avoid the Emerald City—Frex feigning concern about temptation while hiding his own unease about being a Munchkinlander in a foreign capital. After ten days they reach Shiz. The university’s granite hall squats on a lawn littered with red and yellow leaves. Elphaba takes in the dry, windy climate and notices a Goat and an Ape among the faculty. A second carriage distracts everyone; a bright, trilling, golden presence descends—implied to be Glinda. Relieved to be unnoticed, Elphaba touches her father’s forearm lightly, refuses his advice, and strides into the hall without looking back. Frex turns away as she flies forward. The chapter ends with the watchers—the wet wind, the riverways, the gazing globe, the polter-Monkey—waiting to see how the story unfolds.

Key Events

After many arrangements, Elphaba’s departure for Shiz is set; Nanny, Nessa, and Shell remain behind.
Pari’isi Menga’al gives Elphie a vegetable pearl earbob as a friendship token; she throws it into the river.
On departure day, Nanny weeps under her apron, Shell hides, and Nessa meets Elphie in the window light.
Elphaba gifts Nessa a black stone that symbolizes transformation—the marsh plum “hex”—and tells her to change her own life.
The sisters walk together, sharing parallel shadows, never truly embracing.
The narrator switches to conjecture: Frex and Elphaba travel a rural route avoiding the Emerald City.
The carriage arrives at Shiz University after ten days; Elphaba observes a Goat and an Ape among the faculty.
A golden-voiced student (implied Glinda) arrives, distracting everyone; Elphaba enters the hall without looking back.
The chapter ends with the watching, inchoate witnesses—wind, river, gazing globe, polter-Monkey—anticipating her future.

Character Development

Elphaba: She solidifies her rejection of sentimental attachments by throwing away the pearl earbob, declaring she has “no appetite for friendship” and wants no obligations. Despite that hardness, she gives Nessa a meaningful gift and urges her toward change, showing an enduring, if armored, care. She refuses her father’s advice, stepping into independence with no look back.
Nessa: Displayed as envious but vulnerable. She stands barefoot, speaking of the wounds in her heart. Her tears and wan smile reveal deep emotion. She cannot pick up the stone herself, underscoring her physical dependence even as Elphaba encourages her agency.
Frex: The narrator imagines him as uncertain, hiding behind paternal caution about the Emerald City. He helps Elphaba down “with a hand accustomed to assisting his other daughter,” then blows his nose instead of crying. He is left behind, watching her enter her own story.
Nanny: Comically overwrought but devoted, she silences herself with her apron.
Shell: Hurt and ornery; he hides, likely feeling abandoned.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

Rejection of friendship and obligation: Elphie discards the pearl earbob to avoid any tie that might demand affection or loyalty. The past, she thinks, “will abandon us … unless we abandon it first.”
Transformation and possibility: The black stone recalls the marsh plum hex—a memory of making something barren become nourishing. Elphaba’s gift urges Nessa to “hex” her own life through change, not magic. The autumn leaves in Shiz prompt Elphie to wonder, “If the green trees can turn colors here … maybe I can, too.”
Leaving and being left: Shell hides; Nanny hides under her apron; Frex is left; Elphie refuses to look back. Abandonment runs through every farewell.
Conjecture as narrative voice: The chapter explicitly frames much of the journey and arrival as “conjecture … an assessment totted up by the inchoate witnesses.” This self-aware storytelling underscores that Elphaba’s interior life must be imagined, and that forces of nature or magic are watching.
Parallel shadows: The sisters walk side by side, not embracing, their shadows parallel on the floor. The image suggests parallel but separate destinies.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter closes the Qhoyre years and launches the Shiz arc. Elphaba’s deliberate rejection of the pearl earbob and her refusal to accept Frex’s advice mark her arrival at a cold self-reliance. The gift of the black stone to Nessa plants a seed of future transformation—potentially Nessa’s later rise to power—while the fleeting golden presence foreshadows Glinda. By framing the university arrival as conjecture, Maguire reminds readers that Elphaba’s story is always mediated, always watched, and that her true thoughts remain partly unknowable. The image of her striding into the hall, not looking back, establishes the forward momentum that will carry the novel into the next phase.

Study Questions and Answers

Why does Elphaba throw away the vegetable pearl earbob?
She sees it as a souvenir of friendship and “obligations of affection.” The narrator says she has “no appetite for friendship” and wants to be free of any sentimental tie. Discarding it is a declaration that she will not be bound by gifts or gratitude.
What does the black stone symbolize for Nessa?
Elphaba presents it as a token of the marsh plum “hex”—changing an inert stone into something worth biting into—and urges Nessa to “hex your own life” through change, not magic. It symbolizes the possibility of transformation, agency, and breaking free from the life laid out for her.
How does the conjectural frame affect the meaning of the chapter?
By calling most of the journey and arrival “conjecture,” the narrator draws attention to the act of storytelling itself. It suggests that Elphaba’s inner experience is being pieced together by outside watchers—wind, river, gazing globe, Monkey—who are “waiting to see how it plays out.” The frame distances the reader from certainty and emphasizes the myth-making around Elphaba’s life.

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