How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Tobias] does know something about loss. He lost his mother when he was young. (2.23)
Loss comes with the territory in a post-apocalyptic novel. It would be difficult to find a character in any of these books who hasn't lost someone like a parent or sibling.
Quote #2
"My father is dead." It's the first time I've said it since I told Tobias, on the train ride over, that my parents died for me. "Died" was just a fact to me then, detached from emotion. But "dead," mingling with the churning and bubbling noises in this room, strikes a blow like a hammer to my chest, and the monster of grief awakens, clawing at my eyes and throat. (5.15)
Strangely, it's changing death from a verb (died) to a noun (dead) that really hits it home for Tris. We guess that, as a Dauntless, she's used to action, action, action, and dying would be just another action for her.
Quote #3
Years from now, when my memories begin to fade, what will I have to remind me of what [my parents] looked like? (7.49)
Almost everyone fears they'll forget someone after that person dies. Many people have pictures or videos to remind them of their loved ones. Tris, however, having grown up in Abnegation, doesn't have these things. She has only her memories to rely on, and as we've seen in these books so far, memories are malleable and easily changed or forgotten. She doesn't want to lose her parents forever.