When I'm home, in Kentucky, all I want is to leave. When I'm away, I'm homesick for a place that never was.
-- Owen (Pages 3 - 65)

Importance: The novel opens with the above lines. On the first night that he meets Alma, Owen immediately opens up about his fraught relationship with Kentucky. By placing these lines at the forefront of Owen's narrative, the author indicates the ways in which Owen's relationship with place will dictate the narrative's central conflicts and stakes. Indeed, throughout the pages to come, Owen will continue to wrestle with his unresolved angst towards his home state. He blames much of his loneliness, frustration, and immobility on the place rather than taking ownership of his own feelings and personal growth. The moment contributes to the author's explorations concerning belonging, loneliness, identity, and the past.

Then I tried to think of myself as a character, with a particular point of view that made...
-- Owen as Narrator (Pages 3 - 65)