It hasn't happened, not actually.
-- Narrator (Ma: Pages 15 - 40)

Importance: When 13-year-old Amor first learns of her mother's death, she cannot reconcile herself with the news. In this moment, the narrator inhabits Amor's consciousness in the hours following the revelation. Amor's inability to process her mother's passing grants an entryway into her character as well as to the author's overarching formal patterns and thematic concerns. This moment also foreshadows the characters' later responses to Manie's, Astrid's, and Anton's deaths.

They didn't see me, I was like a black woman to them.
-- Narrator (Ma: Pages 15 - 40)

Importance: Distressed by the notion of seeing her mother's dead body, and disinterested in her family's arguments, Amor flees the house for the nearby koppie. While on the hill, she suddenly remembers overhearing a conversation between her parents two weeks prior. In this moment, the narrator likens Amor to a black woman, particularly to Salome. Therefore, Manie and Rachel had no consciousness of Amor's presence...