I wasn’t in Korea. I was at Guadalcanal, and Luzon. And there weren’t any niggers there.
-- Mechanic ("Lovecraft Country")

Importance: A white mechanic refuses Atticus service. When Atticus appeals to the fact that they are both war veterans, the mechanic responds with the above quotation. This is a very early scene in the novel, and it helps to quickly establish the novel's thematic focus on the hardships and injustices of racial prejudice.

Less friendly parts of the country were populated by ogres and trolls, vampires and werewolves, wild beasts, ghosts, evil sorcerers, and hooded white knights.
-- Narration ("Lovecraft Country")

Importance: This line of narration describes some of the ways in which maps in the Safe Negro Travel Guide are labeled. The guide uses images from horror-fantasy to mark locations of high racial oppression. This imagery signals to the reader that the novel itself utilizes similar symbolic devices in the narrative.

You require me. To be your...
-- Atticus Turner ("Lovecraft Country")