We were all hopeful things would go differently. They did not go differently. They went this way.”
-- Romy (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote offers an early example of Romy’s deterministic worldview, in which impersonal, systemic forces trump individual will and effort, a central theme throughout the novel. Her hope was that a jury would understand why she had to kill Kurt Kennedy, that she was acting instinctually and in self-defense. While Romy was denied this hoped-for consideration, she doesn’t blame the individuals on the jury: indeed, her language is entirely impersonal and passive, suggesting she is the victim of systemic forces that are difficult to name or diagnose.

There were rules about everything, appearance and thought and letters and language, food and attitude and scheduling, tools and implements and use.
-- Romy (chapter 7)

Importance: The first several chapters of the novel dwell on the nature of rules and authority; this quote summarizes the degree of control...