Very few Victims of Capitalism were on the train today.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: While riding the light rail train at the start of the novel, Brettigan observes his fellow passengers. He notices that everyone riding with him appears professional and monied. In this moment, his attention to the deficit of disenfranchised passengers establishes the author's thematic interest in exploring invisibility. Indeed, over the course of the novel, those minor characters who are members of the unhoused or impoverished communities of Minneapolis become increasingly pervasive. Brettigan wants this class of citizen to remain at the outskirts of his attention, in order to free him of moral obligation to them.

When you aged, all the small destructions began to add up.
-- Narrator (chapter 3)

Importance: While listening to his wife describe her experience watching a church's demolition, Brettigan has difficulty engaging with her emotionally. Then, when he realizes how upset Alma is, Brettigan apologizes. In this moment, Brettigan reflects...