Beth learned of her mother’s death from a woman with a clipboard.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: The death of Beth's mother is treated with clinical bureaucracy. This quote is important because it shows how, with no family or connections, Beth is treated with a detached civility that undercuts her humanity.

Now she would snuggle up in bed, allowing herself to feel the tension in her stomach with a thrill, knowing it would soon leave her. She waited there in the dark, alone, monitoring herself, waiting for the turmoil in her to peak. Then she swallowed the two pills and lay back until the ease began to spread through her body like the waves of a warm sea.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Beth is given tranquilizers without her consent or knowledge and she becomes addicted to them. This quote is important because it shows how she comes to depend on the tranquilizers for emotional support during a traumatic...