How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Up to a point I was very fit… until death set in. Death is inclined to undermine one's fitness." (1.55)
Titus has a really deadpan sense of humor. Because he's dead. Get it? Ba dum tssshh. (Sorry, we couldn't resist.)
Quote #2
And then the phone rang.
And it was Mum to say that Dad had died. (2.12-2.13)
Sym spends much of the book trying to work through her feelings about her father's death, even as she's faced with the prospect of her own. Death is a near-constant presence for her.
Quote #3
The timing of the two things—Dad's death, Oates's arrival in my head—suddenly tripped me up, and my concentration faltered […]. (10.39)
Sym describes her imaginary friend Titus as her love interest. But he's also a father figure who "came to life" on the same day as her father's death. It's probably best not to think too hard on the love interest/father figure thing.