Turner Buckminster had lived in Phippsburg, Maine, for almost six whole hours. He didn't know how much longer he could stand it. ... here, being a minister's son mattered a whole lot, and pretending that it didn't matter to him was starting to peck at his soul.
-- Narration (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote clearly sets up the central character (protagonist) at the beginning of his journey of transformation: the story that follows defines how this strong, vividly defined perspective changes, and what causes it to change as Turner develops an identity defined more by who he is than by who he is expected to be.

Mrs. Cobb was so alone, sitting in a dark room as hot as Beelzebub and waiting for Death's dart to come so that she could say the one thing people would remember her for - knowing all the while that there would be no-one there to hear it.
-- Narration (chapter 2)

Importance: This is...