Lie down, go back to sleep. It's Christmas night, for God's sake. Ignore the animals. They're our only and most loyal spectators."
-- Henry Lawson (chapter 1 paragraph 3)

Importance: Here, Henry Lawson asserts the thesis which Dovey will spend the rest of her book challenging. Lawson reduces animals to the status of "spectators," arguing that animals cannot speak; they can only watch. Dovey, by choosing animals to narrate her stories, proves Lawson wrong. Giving animals a voice, Dovey shows that animals are not only spectators, but also critics, lovers, friends, and individuals, searching for meaning and authenticity, just as humans do. Thus, as the collection progresses, Lawson's quote is shown for a foolish lie: indeed, throughout the stories, the animals are often more insightful than the humans.

And of course she and I identify with the refusal of mules to be anything they don't truly feel themselves to be. Humans tend to call this bad manners or...
-- Kiki (chapter 2 paragraph 1)