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While we spoke, I thought seriously about inviting her out for dinner, but I ended up not doing it. It just didn’t seem to matter one way or the other. I felt like this a lot after my experience with the vanishing elephant.

This quote comes during the resolution, after the narrator has shared his experience of the night the elephant vanished. Throughout the story, the narrator has been alone, except for his brief connection with the editor. The narrator describes his daily routine, which he performs by himself, without a hint of dissatisfaction. He seems happy to spend his time adhering to his routine, looking at the elephant, and following the story of its disappearance. However, once he has the chance to build a connection with the editor and fails to follow through, he feels a deep loneliness. Rather than build a bond, the narrator has chosen to isolate himself. Or, more likely, he has been isolated by the experience of failing to receive empathy when relating the tale of the elephant’s shrinking. He tells himself that it does not matter whether he’s alone since he can’t predict the outcome of trying to build a relationship. But his flat, uninspired tone betrays him. His experience of losing the elephant in a sudden, unbalanced moment makes him fear building a relationship that becomes out-of-balance and leads to another loss. The narrator’s fear is tragic and causes him to live a life of isolation, apart from the rest of the world.

The papers print almost nothing about the elephant anymore. People seem to have forgotten that their town once owned an elephant. The grass that took over the elephant enclosure has withered now, and the area has the feel of winter. The elephant and keeper have vanished completely. They will never be coming back.

These are the final lines of the story and they emphasize the loneliness and isolation the narrator feels, and the impact of the elephant’s loss on the world. The narrator’s tone is hopeless because it seems he is the only person left who continues to be affected by the elephant’s disappearance. His description of the empty elephant house is a metaphor for the loneliness within himself. The final sentences drive home the loss he feels. No matter how it happened, the fact remains that the elephant and its keeper are nowhere to be found. They have disappeared and will never return. The narrator states these facts with a finality that leaves no room for second-guessing. The narrator conveys the sense that something precious has vanished from the world and now reality is that much colder, emptier, and lonelier for it.

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