It was just one of those things. But one of those things turns into other things, which lead to more coincidence, which lead to many years later to boys and kitchens, boys and hate — and without that long-lost girl there was none of it: No Penelope. No Dunbar boys. No bridge, and no Clay.
-- Matthew / narrator (chapter 3)

Importance: Fate is an important concept in the novel, and this quotation exemplifies the ways in which Zusak will show that events follow on from one another, and that even powerfully negative experiences are an important part of the way fate will unfold. The words describe Michael Dunbar's doomed relationship with Abbey Hanley, his childhood sweetheart, and describe how necessary that experience was to the rest of his life, and to the story at hand. If Abbey had not, as Zusak writes, "destroyed" Michael (170), he would never have met his future wife Penny, nor would they have...