All things pass, especially dreams.
-- Narrator (First Moon)

Importance: When Maali first wakes up in the In Between, he convinces himself that he is dreaming. If he is dreaming, he believes, then he will eventually wake up, and in turn, he will escape the unfamiliar and unnerving realm he is now occupying. This moment reveals Maali's yet unreconciled feelings of entrapment. He wants to believe the In Between is an ephemeral, temporary space, because he longs for freedom and deliverance. Maali's need to reconcile with his new reality is one of the novel's primary conflicts.

The memories come to you with pain. The pain has many shades.
-- Narrator (First Moon)

Importance: In the In Between, Maali is suffering from amnesia. This amnesia keeps him from remembering essential episodes from his life immediately prior to his death. However, the longer he resides in this realm, the more apparent it becomes that Maali has been compartmentalizing his past for years...