It moved quickly, tearing a path for days. It lived off the air; it slept in caves and hid in trees; it burned, up and through, unconcerned with what wreckage it left behind, until it reached an Asante village. There, it disappeared, becoming one with the night.”
-- Narration (Part 1, Chapter 1 )

Importance: This quote, from the novel's opening paragraphs, is part of the introduction of one of its key recurring images - fire. The power and destructiveness evoked here are similarly recurring elements, generally associated with one of the three metaphoric values of fire in the book: as a representation of strong feeling; as a representation of suffering; and as a representation of connection with the past.

The need to call this thing ‘good’ and this thing ‘bad,’ this thing ‘white’ and this thing ‘black,’ was an impulse that Effia did not understand. In her village, everything was everything. Everything bore the weight of everything...
-- Narration (Part 1, Chapter 1 )