She once explained to me that, as a Molotschnan, she had everything she wanted; all she had to do was convince herself that she wanted very little.
-- Narrator/August (Pages 1 - 46)

Importance: August says this of something Ona once told him. The line speaks to the experiences of all the women of Molotschna. Ona's words express the truth of the women's limitations, their lack of agency, their inability to even define the parameters of their own desire. It is against these constraints the women react throughout the narrative.

The houses are small tombs at night.
-- Narrator/August (Pages 1 - 46)

Importance: Upon returning to Molotschna, August describes the homes of the colony in this manner, likening the neighborhood to a cemetery. The condensed nature of this description heightens the physical tension and leaden atmosphere of the colony as a whole. Though August feels a need to return, this line speaks to the ways in which Molotschna both environmentally and emotionally deadens...