There's no way out of this.
-- Narrator's Mother (None of That)

Importance: At the start of "None of That," the narrator and her mother get their car caught in the muddy streets of an unpaved neighborhood. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to release the car, the mother says the above words. The narrator realizes that she is speaking more to herself than to her. Indeed, the mother's words address her emotional conundrum as well as her physical entrapment in the mud. The mother feels caught by her circumstances and by her longing.

It makes me so sad I just want to die.
-- Narrator's Mother (None of That)

Importance: Although the narrator of "None of That" has been visiting other people's houses with her mother for as long as she can remember, she has yet to figure out why. In this moment, she finds her mother crying in the bathroom of a woman's house they have recently infiltrated. Her mother's upset conveys the profundity...