"She pictured him in nice clothes, his hair cut shorter, maybe his nose straightened, speaking a more careful English, interested in music and literature, learning about politics, psychology, philosophy; wanting to know more the more he knew, in this way growing in value to himself and others."
This quote details Helen Bober's thoughts about Frank as she begins to see him in a more romantic way. It is important because throughout this novel, we can see that Helen is constantly dreaming, and rarely sees the reality of a situation. Here, she is dreaming about a perfect man, the man that Frank could have been if he had many of the characteristics mentioned.
"Then one day, for no reason he could give, though the reason felt familiar, he stopped climbing up the airshaft to peek at Helen, and he was honest in the store."
This quote is located towards the end of the book, and shows Frank's change from doing bad actions, to starting to improve himself. He has taken over the store by this point, and bears the responsibility as well. Because Helen has continued her courtship with another, more educated lover, Frank is upset, and begins to cheat and lie to everyone. However, at this point, Frank decides to stop all the lies, and to come clean. This shows that no matter how bad his actions are, Frank's goodness continues to shine through to the outside.
"What do you suffer for, Morris?" Frank said. "I suffer for you," Morris said calmly.
Towards the middle of the book, Frank begins questioning Morris about the hardships of being a Jew in a new society. He realizes that even though Morris and his wife are constantly cheerful and truthful on the outside, they have had a very challenging life in the background. This courage encourages him to begin to look at his life from a different perspective, eventually causing him to become a better person. Morris also indicates that he cares for Frank, and he starts to see Frank as a son, in place of the son who had died early on.
