It’s a pity. I have never heard of a white man who got so little good out of being a white man.
-- Della (N/A)

Importance: This observation highlights the manner in which Robinson upends typical portrayals of race throughout the novel. While Jack is a white man whom readers might expect to be wealthier and more privileged, Jack spends the entire novel struggling to overcome his race and social status so that he can be good enough for Della. For Jack, race does not confer any sort of privilege, and actually constitutes a hindrance to his goal of being with Della.

He had a way of anticipating memories he particularly did not want to have.
-- Narrator (N/A)

Importance: This sentence succinctly describes the way in which Jack constantly worries about how he will remember the present. Instead of simply enjoying the present, he thinks about how a conversation or encounter will affect the happiness of...