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.