How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I've touched them all: I'm like the plague. I've shared a bed with the best of them, I've shared their finest meals. I've listened to their rumors and the sounds they make at night. I have stood beside their children's cribs while they sucked their thumbs and dreamed. Tonight I'll share the schoolteacher's fire, having hissed the resident vixen from her place beneath the floor. (4.5)
The way Finnigan talks about the town, you'd think everyone had done him/Gabriel wrong. We'd like to point out the word he uses here—infect—as though he is a disease spreading throughout the town. One thing's for sure: The townsfolk certainly view the fires that way and are eager to stop them.
Quote #2
Yeah, reflections! The same, but different. Like twins—like blood brothers! And when you need something bad done, like punishment or revenge, you'll just ask me, and I will do it. (5.52)
Finnigan first hatches the pact with Gabriel as a way of getting back at people who deserve to be punished. Whether they've made a joke at Gabriel's expense, or done something actually bad, Finnigan is ready and willing to get revenge.
Quote #3
My enemies would flee like dogs across the hills, if only he were here. He had sworn to be near when I needed him, the living retaliation for my hurts, but he wasn't. When, at home, I committed some crime—spilt my drink, broke a plate, went cretinously deaf to what I was told—and found myself kneeling in the corner where I was traditionally sent to contemplate my sins, I remembered Finnigan's vow to protect and give me courage, and I supposed that he had lied. (7.1)
Isn't all this a bit much for small grievances such as accidentally breaking something or spitting? It seems like Finnigan is out for blood when he takes revenge on people, but from the looks of this passage, this is also how Gabriel has learned to behave at home. His parents are always cracking the whip over little things.
Quote #4
I'm fond of leaning over a sleeper and whispering in his ear, I like snickering and whispering in the space between walls. The ones warming backsides on the hotel's hearth and the ones bent over schoolbooks and the ones raking leaves from the lawns—most of these have heard from me, although they couldn't say exactly how. I'm the voice of reason, of conscience, of spooks. For some I'm the voice that's little by little sending them mad. (8.11)
Finnigan fancies himself important, especially in thinking about how much influence he has over people. His revenge knows no bounds. He doesn't just light fires—sometimes he uses other mean tactics to get back at people.
Quote #5
I smiled. The air felt warm and fresh in me. I thought about what he'd told me, and everything that had burned. I said, "So you're only punishing people who deserve it." (9.57)
Cue the evil laugh. Even Gabriel—the good twin—finds Finnigan's evil deeds smile-worthy; he thinks it's okay to do bad stuff to people as long as they deserve it. The only problem with that logic is: Who determines who deserves it? Finnigan, that's who.
Quote #6
"He doesn't know." Finnigan's voice was certain. "Anyway, he's not thinking about the firebug. He hates your father more… McIllwraith is just a man. He has hate and vengeance. We can use that." (9.110)
According to Finnigan, every man has vengeance somewhere in his heart—and this does seem to be true with the way the characters treat one another throughout the book. So why is this? What gives them vengeance? Why doesn't everyone act on it like Finnigan?
Quote #7
He looks the same as he always did. As if he can bend the world to his will. It's not like seeing an old friend; nor is it like encountering an enemy. His year of absence slips away—it's as if I saw him yesterday. He's brought to the room his unforgotten smell. My blood feels warmer with recognition. (17.1)
Finnigan's always been one of those guys who gets what he wants. It doesn't matter who he's up against, Finnigan comes out on top. Why? He's scary, for one, but it's also because he's not afraid to take revenge for stuff he feels he deserves, whereas others are.
Quote #8
He stares at me with his knife blade eyes, his breath rasping and wheezing. He's realizing I'll have no mercy, that I'm here in deadly earnest—it's dawning on him that I won't back down or away. I want what I want: he has to agree. If I don't get it, I'll be angry. He sees this, and I see his jaw tighten, digging his stubbornness in. (18.5)
This description comes to us from Finnigan, who tells us what it's like for him to take revenge on someone. We're used to hearing about what happens from Gabriel's perspective, but here, we get to see what it's like in the moment from Finnigan. How does this differ from what Gabriel tell us?
Quote #9
You need to go before he gets here. You have to hide. You have to go somewhere and not come back. Don't tell me where you're going—he'll sense that I know. He's angry. He wants revenge. So he's coming here to find you. To punish me. (19.42)
He tells Evangeline to scram before it's too late… so now Gabriel's the one who has done something punishable in Finnigan's eyes. We can't help but wonder what would happen if Evangeline didn't leave town. What would Finnigan have done to her?
Quote #10
I could kill him with the bend of a finger. He would fall in the grass and the flies would come, sailing over the roses and out of the blue blue sky. The worms would turn, and creep as if summoned. My mother would run, afraid to look behind. It would take one moment. (21.53)
Pretty soon, it isn't just Finnigan who has evil fantasies, and Gabriel starts getting into it, too. He considers what it would be like to purposely kill someone (as opposed to, say, accidentally killing them, like he does to Vernon), and we can tell that his thirst for revenge doesn't stop with Finnigan.