In loftiest terms, we aimed to escape our mortality, confront or even replace the Godhead with a perfect self.
-- Narrator/Charlie (chapter 1)

Importance: Charlie says this at the start of the novel as a way of introducing the technological and cultural climate of the narrative present. The line addresses many of the novel's themes to come, and establishes the subtextual and interpersonal concerns of the text. This introductory moment illustrates Charlie's future relationship with Adam, his desire to play his own sort of godlike role, to ignore his mortality and fallibility.

How much of life we ascribe to the eyes.
-- Narrator/Charlie (chapter 1)

Importance: Charlie has this thought when looking into Adam's eyes for the first time. Shortly after powering him up, he searches Adam's face for evidence of his sentience. Because his eyes look blank, seemingly lifeless, Charlie believes him truly just a computer. Throughout the novel, the image of the eye recurs, acting as a sort...