He hadn’t spoken to any of them in weeks, if not a month, but in his mind, his grandmother, quiet sufferer of a cirrhosis that had been winning for years, was fixed to her bed in Midwood, as if the way he remembered her was the way she would be until he came to see her again, until he authorized new developments.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1 paragraph 7)

Importance: Slava was shocked to learn that his Grandmother had died. Even though he had been to see her only once in the past year and knew she was sick, he hadn’t considered the possibility that she would die.

The English preposition, stunned by the assignment, came up short — though she said no more than that, and no one disturbed her on the subject.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1 paragraph 26)

Importance: As Slava tried to find the proper preposition to use in conjunction with a description of his grandmother’s experiences he personified the...