How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Mammy didn't understand. She didn't understand that if she looked into a mirror, she would find the one unfailing conviction of [Babi's] life looking right back at her. (2.21.59)
Mammy and Babi have a difficult relationship, and Mammy blames him for the death of Ahmad and Noor. But it's Babi's unflinching devotion to Mammy that ultimately shines through. There's no doubt that this love makes an impact on Laila and how she views family.
Quote #2
"Do you have it in you?" Laila said.
"To what?"
"To use this thing. To kill with it."
[…]
"For you," he said. "I'd kill with it for you, Laila." (2.25.19-22)
While it may make you feel icky to think about it, this is a pretty powerful thing to say to someone else, and, in a way, a pure expression of what it can mean to love. Laila agrees—this statement sparks the first kiss between Laila and Tariq.
Quote #3
She would not miss him as she did now, when the ache of his absence was her unremitting companion—like the phantom pain of an amputee. (2.26.11)
The image of "the phantom pain of an amputee" is an obvious play on Tariq's lost leg, but it also provides a great metaphor for being away from someone you love. Laila and Tariq are so bonded that Laila sees them, to some extent, as the same person.