Years will pass, a long, surprising slant of light, and this terror will abate. She will pick her daughter up from school, stand in her kitchen with her hands on her hips, sip from a glass in the evening, slip under smooth sheets. But this will always be her frozen moment, the definition of her days. They will always be pounding on the door in the middle of the night. They will always be coming.
-- Annelise (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote highlights the enduring trauma associated with overcoming displacement and huge life changes. Annelise, despite living for years in the United States after fleeing Germany, still experiences night terrors that somebody will come to take her children away. After years of acceptance or, at the least, a lack of outward hatred as in Germany, Annelise must still live in fear.

She learned not to make those mistakes, and in learning, she has become intolerant...
-- Klara (chapter 1)