Not that Myrna wishes Leonie to die—a hundred times the opposite, and what would they all do without her?—but the constant allusions to her impending mortality are frazzling to Myrna's nerves.
-- Narrator (Pages 3 - 13)

Importance: The third person narrator inhabits Myrna's consciousness to reveal her distinct view of aging and death. Myrna does not like when Leonie talks about her illness, because she is afraid of acknowledging her own fragility and mortality. Like her friends, she is reluctant to verbally discuss the passage of time and growing older.

Fern would say it's a dish best not eaten at all . . .
-- Chrissy (Pages 3 - 13)

Importance: Chrissy and her friends are desperate to avenge Fern, although they know that Fern is less concerned with how Humphrey and his cohort hurt her. Chrissy's words reveal Fern's detachment from the issue and thus complicate the friends' ongoing and obsessive pursuit of justice. Indeed, they refuse to drop the matter even though...