In fact, 'today' is a word that only suicides ought to be allowed to use, it has no meaning for other people.
-- Narrator (Pages 1 - 62)

Importance: At the start of the novel, the narrator wrestles with when and where she should set her account. In this lengthy passage, she attempts to articulate her fraught relationship with the notion of "today," and with time in general. She believes that the word should only be used in reference to suicides, because each day is too fleeting, too insecure and vacant, to have any other meaning. This moment not only foreshadows the narrator's disappearance at the end of the novel, but addresses the author's overarching temporal devices and narrative structure.

I must talk. I will talk.
-- Narrator (Pages 1 - 62)

Importance: Throughout the opening section, "The Cast," the narrator attempts to establish the tactile parameters of her life, circumstances, and character. In this moment, she addresses her relationship with language, expression, and...