How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[He] was asking himself what was destined to succeed this monarchy which bore the marks of death upon its face. (1.42)
From the beginning of the book, Fabrizio knows that his country is bound to disappear. He considers this a sort of symbolic death, since this country is the only one he's ever known. It's also the only reason he has power as an aristocrat, but instead of retreating into the past, all he can do is wonder what will replace the old kingdom in the years to come.
Quote #2
[But] it was the religious houses which gave the city its grimness and its character, its sedateness and also the sense of death which not even the vibrant Sicilian light could ever manage to disperse. (1.59)
Death is everywhere on the island of Sicily, but it's tough to determine whether this sense of death existed before the arrival of invading forces from Italy. On the one hand, Sicily is a source of vibrant light. But on the other, Fabrizio tells us later in the book the every Sicilian secretly longs for death. So maybe the country has both light and dark, life and death in it. That's deep stuff.
Quote #3
Someone had died at Donnafugata, some tired body unable to withstand the deep gloom of Sicilian summer had lacked the stamina to await the rains. (2.52)
It's not every day that someone associates the summertime with doom and gloom. But when you live somewhere as hot as Sicily, you know what it's like to look for gloomy shade whenever you can. It's the only way to keep cool in that kind of heat.