How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I could see exactly what was going to happen. And although technically there's free will and anything could have interfered with his death, like a timely muscle cramp to make him pause on the curb—or heck, a bird could have been flying overhead and suddenly taken ill in midair and Fallen on his head and knocked him out the second before he stepped into the street—there are laws of physics, and trust me, after millions of millennia, I can spot an inevitability. (1.11)
Kiriel's explanation of what will happen to Shaun shows us that it's a foregone conclusion. Sure, there's technically free will, but it's mixed with a side of fate, too. Say what? What we mean is, Shaun can choose to step off the curb or not (free will) but once he does, only one thing will happen (fate).
Quote #2
Since the Creator knows all in the vastness of time, you may ask yourself whether we the Fallen are merely carrying out our part in His plan. That is a question. Good luck getting an answer. (2.2)
We hear Kiriel's frustration with the Creator here. We also get that he doesn't have any control over anything—he believes there is free will, but he thinks the Creator might just have a plan for everyone to live out. There's just one problem: Kiriel goes against that plan by going to earth. Sounds like free will to us.
Quote #3
Is it the same way with souls? Do they have to serve a prearranged sentence imposed upon them by the Creator? Or do they know on their own when they've atoned for whatever they did or neglected to do? (2.13)
For a Fallen angel, this guy's got a lot of questions about what goes down in hell. He's unsure of whether human souls live out a predetermined time, or if they have any knowledge of what's happening to them. It seems like Kiriel doesn't really know if there's free will or not.
Quote #4
Yes, I was afraid of what might happen to me. But the fear was delicious because it was my own emotion, inside my mind, created by my actions. For me and from me. (5.25)
Because of his choices, Kiriel is afraid—very afraid. Hey, we would be, too, if our boss was the devil himself. Yet his comment also reveals to us that he gets to choose his own path in life and there are consequences because of it.
Quote #5
Why would an all-knowing One create a being and give it a nature—give it desire, give it need—and then reject that being for doing what its nature called it to do? Why would He insert imperfections into His creations and then punish them for not being able to overcome those imperfections? (6.23)
If you put it that way, it does seem unfair that humans are given a desire to "sin," as Kiriel calls it, and then punished for doing so. Why would the Creator give humans taste buds if gluttony was a bad thing? Kiriel suggests that free will is unfair because eventually everyone who gives into it suffers the same fate.
Quote #6
I didn't want to hurt anyone, because I didn't want to be around any more hurt. So far, I felt I hadn't hurt anyone. I'd had no more impact—negative or positive—than I did in my regular job. (10.4)
Even though Kiriel keeps telling us that he doesn't have any choices at home, we can't help but wonder whether that's true or not. How else could he get to earth, steal a body, and live for a while without anyone bothering to bring him back? It seems like he's told he doesn't have free will, but really does.
Quote #7
I didn't want to murder Reed. I wanted to change him, but I knew that wasn't possible. All humans have free will. Reed was the only one who could do the changing. (16.24).
Yikes, seems like Kiriel jumped a few steps, right? Reed knocks him around a bit and Kiriel's already talking about murdering him? Sheesh. The saddest part is that Kiriel knows he can't actually change Reed at all; the bully has to make that choice for himself.
Quote #8
Was this what being human did to you? Warped you so that all you could think about was the tiny points at which other people's lives intersected yours? Made you forget that every one of these points has not only a history, but an infinite number of possible futures that can be spun out or stunted—or even unraveled to make more possibilities? (21.78)
If there are an "infinite number of possible futures" then people must be choosing the way they act, and that doesn't sound like fate at all. In fact, if humans are really in control of what happens in their lives, then fate doesn't play a role at all. Seems to go against what he tells us about his job in hell.
Quote #9
I'd never realized it before. Blasphemy, perhaps—but still, I felt it was true. Perhaps, I thought as Jason trudged down the sidewalk, the reason I never wanted to worship perfection is that perfection is dull. (23.32)
Perfection might be dull, but that doesn't stop a lot of people from striving for it. Here, Kiriel admits that he gets sick of perfection, which is why he makes his own choices. We might think of this as another way of saying that he has a choice to make in life, and isn't dictated by the Creator or anyone else.
Quote #10
"The man who was supposed to hit Shaun didn't, so his trajectory has to be remade as well. And the woman who will hit him today—yes, you've created some interesting and… unexpected bits of work."(24.52)
In the end, Kiriel changes Shaun's fate by giving him extra time on earth. Sure, fate means that something will happen, but Kiriel proves that it doesn't have to—somehow, Shaun gets to live another day after getting hit by a bus. Kiriel's ecstatic, and we realize that there's been free will all along.