Everything was continuous with everything else, the touching of one word or object wetting up currents and mutations that seemed never to stop stop.
-- Narrator (Chapter 2)

Importance: Throughout the novel, O’Donnell explores the relationship between the muse and the collective conscious. This quote serves to bolster his claim that creativity is not confined to the minds of individual artists. The muse, separate from the creator, is in conversation with the entirety of the collective conscious and uses memories of the past and present to form inspiration.

A bruised petal, its whiteness unrecognizable, detached itself and tumbled gently to the ground.
-- Narrator (Nine)

Importance: Dr. Chastern devises his plot to kidnap Clara and extort Mr. Crowe’s creative talents because he is frustrated with writer’s block. The bruised white petal serves as a physical signifier of the pallid and fickle nature of the work he creates without the inspiration of his muse, Mr. Crowe. Through...