Quote 1
"I want a man to clean up this pig-sty of a Poisonville for me, to smoke out the rats, little and big. It's a man's job. Are you a man?"
"What's the use getting poetic about it?" I growled. "If you've got a fairly honest piece of work to be done in my line, and you want to pay a decent price, maybe I'll take it on. But a lot of foolishness about smoking rats and pig-pens doesn't mean anything to me."
"All right. I want Poisonville emptied of its crooks and grafters. Is that plain enough language for you?" (5.19)
When Elihu Willsson hires the Op to clean up Personville, the Op is only too happy to oblige, as long as Elihu promises to let the Op use whatever methods he wants to accomplish his goal. Only a stranger like the Op would be able to tackle this "man's job" of cleaning up Poisonville because the Op has no selfish motives tied to the town. None of the gangsters want the Op to succeed because they want to stay in power. The Op is literally the only person in Poisonville who is in a position to rid the city of its crime.
Quote 2
"How do you like our city?"
"I haven't seen enough of it to know." That was a lie. I had. (1.15)
Pretty much the very first words out of the Op's mouth when he meets with Mrs. Willsson are lies, but why does the Op even tell us this? Is this detail a significant clue to understanding the Op's personality?
Quote 3
"What was I using my son for?"
"To put the knife in Thaler, Yard and the Finn."
"You're a liar."
"I didn't invent the story. It's all over Personville."
"It's a lie. I gave him the papers. He did what he wanted with them." (2.55)
Elihu Willsson seems to be in denial both about why Donald was killed and how he (Elihu) may have indirectly led to his son's death. Elihu accuses the Op of lying, when in fact he is the one lying to himself about the real reason why he wanted his son to be the editor of the newspaper. This self-denial may be a coping mechanism, but it also shows Elihu as a weak and selfish father.