How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Somewhere in the middle of getting married, surviving a car accident, having a baby, abandoning my novel, starting and abandoning half a dozen others, having another baby, and trying to stay on top of the bills, something wholly unexpected and depressingly typical happened: I stopped caring about my writing, and started caring about everything else: The kids. The marriage. The mortgage. The store. (Introduction.15)
We really want to hear about Abe fighting vampires , but first the introduction starts off with this guy not living the life he expected. Instead of being a special author, this guy is just a regular guy. Snooze. Yet upon closer look, there's actually some interesting stuff going on here. This regular guy's regular life seems like the result of a number of choices: getting married, having kids, getting into a car accident. (Okay, maybe that last one wasn't a choice.) But after we read the whole book, let's return to the introduction. Could it be possible that these weren't choices at all? That this narrator dude is fated for this life?
Quote #2
Do not construe this letter as an expectation of action. The choice is yours, always. I merely wish to offer the opportunity for continued study, and provide some small measure of relief for the injustices done you, as you will no doubt seek their redress on your own. (4.9)
This is Henry writing his first assassination assignment to Abe and telling his wood chopping buddy that the "choice is yours, always." This is coming from Henry whose later dialogue in this book will almost entirely consist of the word "destiny," so you'll have to forgive us for being a bit skeptical in retrospect. In fact, in two chapters' time, Henry will tell Abe that his destiny was obvious from the first time they met. So why is Henry being all "The choice is yours," here? Is it just to stroke Abe's ego?
Quote #3
"But you... you were born to fight tyranny. It is your purpose, Abraham. To free men from the tyranny of vampires. It has always been your purpose, since you first sprang from your mother's womb. And I have seen it emanating from your every pore since the night we first met. Shining from you as brightly as the sun. Do you think that it was some accident that brought us together?" (6.160)
At the end of Chapter Six, Henry really hits the destiny talk hard; and this is probably the first time we really see how important this theme is to this book. And if Abe is destined to be Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, then everything that came before that has led him to this point has been part of the bigger plan. Losing his mom because of his dad's bad loan, losing his beloved because her previous fiancé was a vampire, almost being killed by that vampire the time he met Henry—all of that sadness and death (and near-death) led to this point. We don't know about you, but if some vampire told us that our loved ones had been killed just so we could chop the heads of some bloodsuckers, we'd be pretty peeved.