You are always in danger in the forest, where no people are.
-- Narrator (Pages 141 - 145)

Importance: In the story's opening pages, the narrator warns the reader, and their unidentified listener, about the dangers of the woods, and the terrors it contains. In this line, the narrator employs the direct address, pointing their injunctions outwards, and thus stressing the importance of what they are conveying. The line has an assured and definitive tone, which makes the reader trust the narrator, though she has yet to learn the narrative identity. This moment also teaches the reader about the narrative world, and foreshadows the coming events.

we try and try but sometimes we cannot keep them out.
-- Narrator (Pages 141 - 145)

Importance: In this moment, the narrator suddenly begins employing first person plural pronouns, thus identifying themselves as the collective voice of the village people. This revelation is not surprising in a gimmicky way, but complicates the point of view, and the...