Then he remembered how his father had abandoned him and Samia to a chorus of aunts and uncles after their mother died, disappearing into work, then disappearing altogether, only for Haris to mimic his father--or so he feared--by abandoning his own country to resettle in America with his sister.
-- Narrator (Book 1, Chapter 1)

Importance: This passage highlights a recurring fear that Haris has throughout the novel: abandoning people and causes. He knows firsthand the pain of having been abandoned. The word “chorus” shows that he was abandoned to different groups of people who were not as personal to him as a parent could be. He did not stay with any specific couple when he was a child. Instead, he was sent to different groups at different times. This passage ties in to the theme of a need, a longing, for a home. Haris did not have a specific home as a child.

That the cause...
-- Narrator (Book 1, Chapter 2)