This is a bad sign. It means she's serious about the place.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: Although Lara has grown accustomed to her peripatetic lifestyle with Yevgenia, she has also learned that she has no say over where she and Yevgenia move. In this scene from the novel's opening chapter, Lara and Yevgenia have just arrived at Oasis Mobile Estates. Lara feels deflated, in that she realizes Yevgenia plans to settle at the trailer park. Lara's immediate disenchantment with the setting is the novel's inciting event and initial source of conflict.

Commoner. That's me.
-- Narrator (chapter 2)

Importance: On Lara's first day of school, she notices Charles and Julie driving by in an expensive car. By way of comparison, Lara feels pitiful and alone. The way in which she silently regards herself in comparison to her peers reveals Lara's tenuous sense of self and longing to be accepted and validated by others.

I want to be lifted up...
-- Narrator (chapter 2)