And my life went on like that: people coming and going, valuable things left in a hurry.”
-- Narrator (Fog)

Importance: This quote highlights the frequency with which people come and go from Claude's life. From the start of the novel, people leave the South Shore with disturbing casualness in pursuit of belonging elsewhere, even Claude's parents. The coming and going of characters throughout the novel happens with astounding speed, especially in the first half of the book. Claude's relationship with Janice and Paul's relationship with Grandma are the only ones that seem to endure.

Seven people were shot when I was away. The neighborhood was back to normal. The miraculous disappeared.”
-- Narrator (Jonah and the Dunk)

Importance: Here, Claude reflects on Jonah's departure and the restoration of normalcy on the South Shore, which involves frequent violence and death. This quote constitutes an example of Bump's use of dark humor to highlight the pain that Claude and his friends and...