How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I spread my blankets on the ground and looked at the low, brown mountains in the distance. I had never felt more alone in my life. (23.21)
When he is pretending to be mute and deaf, Vahan is alienated from his own voice and ideas. He can't talk to anyone or even show he understands what they are saying, plus he's got a huge secret to keep about who he really is. All of it wears on him.
Quote #8
I still wanted a home and a family more than anything in the world, but if I was honest with myself, I had to admit that there was probably no such place and no such people. (26.2)
In the end, Vahan realizes that he might always be alone. It's a sad thing to think about, but he doesn't have any family or home left, no matter how much he tries to force it with the Tashians or in Constantinople.
Quote #9
She was a companion I might have created in my dreams. I felt that I knew her as well as I knew myself, that we had both been alone in empty rooms, had both died and survived in the same way. (28.1)
Seta is like a breath of fresh air for Vahan—after being alone for so long, he finally gets a friend he can talk to and share himself with. That's why it's all the more upsetting when she dies after childbirth, because it pushes Vahan back into a place of being alone again.