And as the transport moves out of the yard, he sees an old belt coiled in a puddle between rails, its buckle glinting in the sunlight like the head of a wet snake.
-- Narrator (Prologue paragraph 1)

Importance: This quote is part of the dark imagery that begins the novel. Specifically, the symbolic imagery of the snake-like belt should not be missed. Snakes are often equated with Satan, and are seen as evil. The transports on which Jews traveled were instruments of evil, being drawn to their deaths the way a snake draws in its prey.

The one thing he will make sure he sees in Cracow is the Leonardo da Vinci portrait of a Renaissance girl holding a white winter weasel in her lap.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1 paragraph 5)

Importance: This describes Olin’s favorite painting, an object that will prove important at the end of the novel. The painting, representative of beauty, perfection, and purity, are things to which...