It was not an easy story to write, because it was about religion, and religion was not something she really wanted to write about.
-- Narrator (Pages 173 - 174)

Importance: Though the woman is reluctant to confess her religious curiosity, in this moment, the narrator alludes to the importance of the woman's spiritual quest. The line not only introduces the narrative stakes of both the woman and Davis's stories, but addresses the author's thematic interest in the dichotomous nature of the human experience. The story both is and is not about religion. The woman both did and did not want to write it. The struggle between opposing truths, enacted in this sentence's structure, pervades the narrative.

She can't think where the center of the story might be.
-- Narrator (Pages 173 - 174)

Importance: This quotation appears as a single-sentence paragraph on the opening page of the story. By formatting the line in this manner, the author illustrates its importance. While the woman's...