“A finger had to be cut to save the hand.”

This quote comes from the fable about the man who sacrifices his son to the div in order to save his village. The theme of sacrifice is at the core of the book, as Pari’s family sacrifices her to save the rest of the family. Without the extra mouth to feed, and with the Wahdatis’s money, Pari’s family will survive another season. Ironically, Pari’s family fares no better for this sacrifice later in the novel, as the next generation is homeless.

“When you have lived as long as I have, the div replied, you find that cruelty and benevolence are but shades of the same colour.” 

This quote comes from the fable about the man who sacrifices his son to the div in order to save his village. The theme of sacrifice is at the core of the book, as Pari’s family sacrifices her to save the rest of the family. Without the extra mouth to feed, and with the Wahdatis’s money, Pari’s family will survive another season. Ironically, Pari’s family fares no better for this sacrifice later in the novel, as the next generation is homeless.

“A story is like a moving train: no matter where you hop on board, you are bound to reach your destination sooner or later.”

Nabi points out that stories have a definite ending, which mirrors that Pari loves math: there is a predictable quality to both things. Pari in particular has faced a lot of uncertainty in her life in living without answers from her adopted mother, and math, with its predictability, is a welcome reprieve.