How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
'"You said yourself the trial isn't over," Ishmael's mother pointed out. "The defense hasn't made its case yet, but you're all ready to convict. You've got the prosecutor's set of facts, but that might not be the whole story—it never is, Ishmael. And besides, really, facts are so cold, so horribly cold—can we depend on facts by themselves?" (24.39)
Like her husband, Helen Chambers has a more complicated view of facts than their son; she admits that there's a lot of other stuff beyond "facts" that goes into figuring out the truth.
Quote #8
Wasn't that the strangest part? That by entering her he'd granted her the means to understand the truth? He'd wanted to be inside of her again, and he'd wanted her to ask him to be there again, and on the next day she'd gone away. (24.72)
Ishmael is remembering the very brief sexual encounter he had with Hatsue right before she left for Manzanar. First, it's worth noting that she didn't "ask him to be there" in the first place. Immediately after this "entering" Ishmael mentions, she became very agitated and asked him to stop (which he did). Looks like some enthusiastic consent training might have been helpful.
Despite her reaction, Ishmael apparently thought they would have a second go at some point. Oh, Ishmael, really? Then, he dresses up this unwanted sexual contact as some great opportunity that gave her access to the "truth" that she didn't love him. He seems to think this is ironic, but it's really only ironic from his perspective (since he was having a great time). It's less ironic or "strange" when we consider that Hatsue (whose mind we can see into as well during the flashback to this event) didn't seem into it at all.
Quote #9
"The truth isn't easy." (27.25)
These are Kabuo's words to Nels Gudmundsson when the latter is trying to get the real story of what happened between Kabuo and Carl the night of Carl's death. Kabuo had his personal reasons for not coming out with the details right away (apparently, he didn't think anyone would believe him), so that's probably kind of what's on his mind here.