Good Dominican women were grateful when the Chief deigned to fuck them.
-- Urania Cabral (chapter 4 paragraph 5)

Importance: In this line, Urania introduces the theme of sexual violence that is tied into the fabric of the dictatorship. Specifically, she comments on the role of Dominican women within the dictatorship; they are supposed to be willing and happy to be used by Trujillo and his henchmen. Indeed, the usage of "deigned" suggests that Trujillo does a favor to those Dominican women he chooses to rape, thereby showing how the culture and society legitimizes and excuses the sexual violence of the regime. The abrasiveness of the language, including the expletive, helps to drive this point home.

He'd live until his final moment in this country, which, thanks to him, had stopped being a tribe, a mob, a caricature, and become a Republic.
-- Narration from Trujillo's perspective (chapter 8 paragraph 1)

Importance: The juxtaposition of the uncivilized "tribe" and the modern "Republic" encapsulates Trujillo's rhetoric and the way...