How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"If there is any trouble," he said, "take the poison and it will all be over." No one asked him what kind of trouble could be worse than death. They all seemed to know. (4.23)
We think it's fair to say that the women in Vahan's life have it the worst. He sees first hand how violated they are by the soldiers, and how much they have to suffer, just because they are women. Whether it's his sister, Seranoush, or Seta, all the women in the novel are taken advantage of.
Quote #2
Looking into the room, I saw only darkness at first. Then I heard a sound and a part of the floor moved, and I realized it was a floor of bodies. (6.11)
Chills, anyone? Vahan's description of the Armenians in the dark room gets us every time, perhaps because it's hard to imagine people suffering so much for nothing other than their race or ethnicity.
Quote #3
For the first time in my life, I was hungry and there was no food, I was thirsty and there was no water. I knew then as I had not known before that the room was real and that my home and my room and my bed had been a dream. (6.22)
Vahan's hunger and thirst are emphasized by the fact that he's never experienced this before. He's always had a comfortable life with no concerns, but now he's suffering more than most of us can even fathom.
Quote #4
As time passed, I began to know my fellow prisoners by their moans and whispers, and I began to know death by the absence of those sounds. (6.44)
It's tough to read about the fact that Vahan starts to know everyone through their suffering, instead of by their names or faces. We might not be able to understand what Vahan is going through, but there's no doubt that everyone is hurting—emotionally and physically.
Quote #5
"Why don't they kill us now?" I heard someone say. (7.14)
Vahan later remembers when someone asked this, and wonders why the Turks didn't just pull the trigger. It seems like the purpose isn't just to get rid of the Armenians—it's also to make them suffer. It's super twisted stuff.
Quote #6
It was harder for me to look at her and know that her suffering was not over and that there was nothing I could do to stop it, nothing I could say that would bring back her brown hair or the light and color in her eyes. (8.3)
When his grandma dies, it's hard for Vahan to see him mom because he knows he can't help her. Even in the midst of such horrific acts, Vahan still cares about his family, and the pain of watching them go through these things wears on them all.
Quote #7
All these years later I still ask myself if I should have left my mother and sister. I ask myself this question almost every day. At the time it was just a fact like so many others we had faced in the last few weeks. (8.8)
Regret is a tough pill to swallow. We can't help but feel that Vahan's regret is a little misplaced, since he was in an impossible situation and couldn't help his mom and sister at all. Still though, he feels pain when he thinks about running away, because it meant that he had to leave them behind.
Quote #8
"This is how steel is made," he said, which was what our father used to say whenever circumstances tested our character, which wasn't very often. "Steel," my father said, "is made strong by fire." And this was our fire. But I did not feel like steel. (9.6)
Vahan's dad's words are super important to his development as a character, and the meaning of the book. It's clear that Vahan needs to suffer to become stronger, but we're pretty sure that even his dad would agree this is too much pain for one teen to endure.
Quote #9
And it was not the war. Or rather, it was the other one no one had declared, the one the snow could bury and the wind could blow away. (19.14)
Here we see that Vahan and his family are at war, but not in a fair fight—they have been taken, beaten, killed, all for no reason, and without question. Maybe it's because the Armenians were just rounded up and disposed of that it bothers Vahan so much.
Quote #10
I have learned about this life: I know, as my neighbors in Bitlis tried to tell me, that there is pain and disillusion in the heart of it. I know, as my father knew, that character and discipline are the steel that fortify it, and that somewhere, beyond pain and disillusion, great blessings are made. (35.19)
In the last words of book, Vahan reflects on how his pain and misery has made him into who he is today. It turns out his dad was right—if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.