Her name aisha means [italicized] she who lives.
-- Nima (N/A)

Importance: This quote represents the motif of names, and since posed in the prologue, sets the tone for one of the questions of the novel - do our names determine who we are or do we determine our names? When Nima first explains Aisha’s name in this moment, she expresses doubt that it is accurate, as she only sees her mother as going to work every day and tired. However when she learns her mother’s past - and how she survived abandonment, tragedy, and immigration to a new country - she begins to appreciate more the power of this name for her mother.

& i ache [line break] to have been born her instead.
-- Nima (N/A)

Importance: This quote from the prologue represents one of the main premises of the novel that plagues Nima - what if Nima had been named Yasmeen instead? Should she...