Quote 1
She talked of her own [childhood], too; but it was elusive, nameless, placeless, an impressionistic recital (7.2).
One of the ways Holly maintains her isolation is by only offering up generalities about herself. She appears to share some personal information, but it's too non-descript to really mean anything.
Quote 2
We wore the masks all the way home (7.6).
This is the scene when Holly and the narrator steal the Halloween masks from Woolworth's, and it carries a great deal of symbolic meaning in relation to the idea of isolation. There are a lot of masks Holly hides behind, and this allows her to maintain the isolation she seems to need so dearly.
Quote 3
I stepped on Holly's dark glasses, they were lying on the floor, the lenses already shattered, the frames cracked in half (11.8).
This occurs after Holly finds out about Fred's death, and the smashed glasses show us that she can't maintain total isolation from the people around her. What were once the symbol of her isolation – her glasses – have been destroyed when the narrator sees how profoundly impacted Holly is by the loss of her brother.
Quote 4
"Dead. Or in a crazy house. Or married. I think she's married and quieted down and maybe right in this very city" (1.31).
This is the narrator's answer to Joe's question about Holly's whereabouts, and it's pretty significant that his first instinct is to think that she's dead or locked away somewhere. It seems she's been rather successful in convincing the world that she is meant to spend her life alone.
Quote 5
Only: what other friends of hers did I know? Perhaps she'd been right when she said she had none, not really (15.7).
The narrator thinks this after Holly's arrest when he can't get a hold of anyone to help her. He realizes that her isolation is so complete that only he and Joe are concerned about her well-being. This is one negative consequence of her isolation.
Quote 6
But the address, if it ever existed, never was sent, which made me sad, there was so much I wanted to write her (19.1).
In the end, the narrator just misses his friend a great deal. He wants to share the accomplishments of his life with her, and he feels her absence in a very real way.
Quote 7
I had kept my promise; I had found him (19.1).
Although he doesn't have to do this, the narrator keeps his word to Holly and finds her cat. It seems he feels that loyalty is a part of friendship, too.
Quote 8
"But Holly! It's dreadful!" "I couldn't agree more; but I thought you wanted it" (8.6-8.7).
Although Holly doesn't like the idea of the birdcage, she buys it for the narrator because she thinks it will make him happy. She is capable of self-sacrifice when it comes to the people she really cares about.
Quote 9
Her bedroom was consistent with her parlor: it perpetuated the same camping-out atmosphere; crates and suitcases, everything packed and ready to go (6.3).
Holly's apartment speaks to her lack of plans. She lives an impetuous life and it seems she's always ready to go where the wind may take her.
Quote 10
When she'd left, I wandered over to the table where her books remained; they were what I had wanted to see. South by Thunderbird. Byways of Brazil. The Political Mind of South America. And so forth.
These books reveal one of Holly's more underhanded plans. She's educating herself about José's world, perhaps so she can become a part of it. It seems she can make plans when they'll benefit her.
Quote 11
I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods (1.1).
These words open the novel and let us know that we'll be spending time in the past. The story is framed around the idea of looking back.
Quote 12
A disquieting loneliness came into my life, but it induced no hunger for friends of longer acquaintance: they seemed now like a salt-free, sugarless diet (4.1).
The narrator's present is more exciting now that Holly's a part of it. His past no longer holds the pull it once did.
Quote 13
So the days, the last days, blow about in memory, hazy, autumnal, all alike as leaves: until a day unlike any other I've lived (12.5).
The narrator's memories of his last few days with Holly fade into an indefinite picture because he's so sad at the thought of her leaving. He knows she's going to become a part of his past, not a part of his future.
Quote 14
[I] was moving out of the brownstone because it was haunted (19.1).
The narrator can't escape memories of Holly once she has left, and he can't bear to stay in the apartment since it's a constant reminder of her. He has to remove himself from the physical location of his memories in order to move on.
Quote 15
She was forever on her way out […] (8.2).
This short passage perfectly sums up Holly's life. She's always on the move, always onto something better.
Quote 16
Holly was not a girl who could keep anything, and surely by now she had lost that medal, left it in a suitcase or some hotel drawer (8.10).
The narrator doesn't count on Holly hanging on to the St. Christopher medal he gives her for Christmas, and this shows us that nothing in Holly's life is permanent. It's not just her geographical location that changes, and it's not just the people who float in and out of her life – she doesn't even hold tight to the sentimental gifts she receives.
Quote 17
One went: Don't wanna sleep, Don't wanna die, Just wanna go a-travelin' through the pastures of the sky; and this one seemed to gratify her the most […] (3.5).
This is one of the songs Holly often sings when she's waiting for her hair to dry. It's pretty significant that it's one of her favorites since it's all about the desire to keep moving, to keep traveling. The singer wants nothing as permanent as sleep or death.
Quote 18
Everything was piled on the floor of my room, a poignant pyramid of brassieres and dancing slippers and pretty things I packed in Holly's only suitcase. There was a mass left over that I had to put in paper grocery bags (18.3).
It just seems kind of fitting that Holly's belongings have to be stuffed in disposable luggage. Even her bags are transient, impermanent.
Quote 19
She hummed to herself, swigged brandy, she leaned constantly forward to peer out the windows, as if she were hunting an address – or, I decided, taking a last impression of a scene she wanted to remember. It was neither of these (18.11).
The narrator wants to believe that Holly wishes to solidify her memories before leaving for Brazil, but this is his desire, not hers. Fixed memories would signify something too permanent for Holly, and this just isn't who she is.
Quote 20
The owner of the brownstone sold her abandoned possessions, the white-satin bed, the tapestry, her precious Gothic chair (19.1).
Holly leaves so most of her (already few) belongings behind when she escapes to South America. She's unencumbered by possessions, and even the things that would suggest a degree of permanence in her life get sold. Her consistent lack of furniture, and of "things" in general, symbolize the transience of her life.