Your mother was inescapable.
-- Thandi's Father (Part One)

Importance: Thandi's father describes his wife's unique and vivacious personality to his daughter. Their first encounter eventually led to Thandi's mother traveling to America to be with the man who would eventually become her husband. But the quote also foreshadows how Thandi's mother never leaves her daughter, even after her death.

American blacks were my precarious homeland--because of my light skin and foreign roots, I was never fully accepted by any race.
-- Thandi (Part One)

Importance: Thandi faces a crisis of identity when she begins to realize that she has no place amongst the fixed racial boundaries of America. Though someone like Aminah can call themselves black or African-American, Thandi does not have access to such a label. The feeling of not belonging anywhere is something that haunts Thandi throughout her life, and becomes even more palpable once her mother passes away.

My mother told me that a man's shoulders should...
-- Thandi (Part One)