It didn’t matter where I lived…It didn’t matter where I worked…All that mattered was what I ate, when I ate, and how I ate it.
-- Rachel (narration) (chapter 1)

Importance: This quotation is form the novel's opening lines. These opening lines help to establish the fact that Rachel's eating disorder has taken over her life and has become the unhealthy central focus of her attention. Her eating disorder thereby becomes quickly established as a crucial thematic plot point in the novel.

My mother persuaded me to stay thin by insulting me. Ana did it by insulting everyone but me. This absence of rejection felt like an embrace.
-- Rachel (narration) (chapter 3)

Importance: Rachel's relationship with her mother in many ways parallels Rachel's relationship Ana. Notably, Rachel's mother and Ana are both harmful presences in Rachel's life, as they reinforce Rachel's unhealthy views about eating and her own body. Even after Rachel begins to establish healthier boundaries...