How we cite our quotes: Volume.Part.Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
How can I describe her? How can I separate her from my own sensations, and from all that has happened in the later time? How can I see her again as she looked when my eyes first rested on her—as she should look now, to the eyes that are about to see her in these pages? (1.1.8.20)
As a storyteller Walter continually has to struggle with his no-spoiler policy. He has to keep things restricted to the present moment of the story and not drop too many hints about what will happen in the future. Here, with very lyrical language, we see how hard it is for Walter to separate Laura of the past from the Laura we later learn will become his wife.
Quote #2
I suppose I remember them because they were kind. It's little enough I remember besides—little enough, little enough. (1.1.13.54)
Poor, crazy Anne. Doesn't her little singsong repetition at the end here make her sound nuts? Anne has a really interesting relationship to memory: she lives almost wholly in one particular moment in the past, as if frozen there. She's aware of time passing and yet she sees no reason to move on from that one life-defining moment with Mrs. Fairlie.
Quote #3
I at once appeal to two of the strongest feelings in her nature—to her love for her father's memory, and to her strict regard for truth. (1.2.2.19)
Nearly all the characters have some memory that clings to them and defines them. In this case, it's Laura and her father. The death of Laura's father isn't something the narrative makes a huge deal about, but her decision-making process was largely defined by it.