There were two worlds.
-- Narrator (Part 1, Chapter 1)

Importance: Isabel Vendle wishes to restore the Dean Street neighborhood to its former glory. She begins renting out to whites, which is partly how Dylan’s family comes to live in a heavily-minority neighborhood. As such, Dylan has two worlds: an indoor world and an outdoor world. However, this statement is also symbolic of the two worlds Dylan inhabits by way of being white, and being white in a heavily-minority place. There are also two worlds in Dylan’s life in terms of location: Dean Street, and the world beyond. For Dylan as a child, there is no knowable world beyond Dean.

Gaze long enough into Dean Street and Dean Street will gaze into you.
-- Narrator (Part 1, Chapter 3)

Importance: Here, the narrator explains how people come to live on Dean Street, and how Dean Street affects and influences their lives – especially when they have lived there for a while. Dean Street...