How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"But I have lived longer than you. I am crafty. I am not the serpent, but the father of serpents. In the end, 'Father' Callahan, you will undo yourself. Your faith in the White is weak and soft. Your talk of love is presumption. Only when you speak of the bottle are you informed." (14.278)
Here's where Barlow burbles about the White and faith. Again, what he means by it is unclear: is the White supposed to be God? Or is it just a chess metaphor? Anyway, he's right about Callahan, who does in fact undo himself. 'Salem's Lot is iffy on what Callahan needs to have faith in, but it's clear that his lack of faith isn't good.
Quote #8
"Nowhere left to go," Barlow murmured sadly. His dark eyes bubbled with infernal mirth. "Sad to see a man's faith fail. Ah well…" (14.514)
And here's where Callahan's cross sputters out and Barlow gets him. The infernal mirth here has to be King's as well as Barlow's—this is one of the novel's most enjoyably perverse scenes. You wouldn't want to do without this passage, which means that on some level, you're probably rooting for Barlow to get Callahan and have him drink that vampire blood. As in lots of horror, the monsters are often more enjoyable than the good guys. Go evil!
Quote #9
"It's better this way," Mark said. "My father… he would have made a very successful vampire. Maybe as good as Barlow, in time. He… he was good at everything he tried. Maybe too good." (14.853)
Barlow just up and kills Mark's dad, so Mark's dad doesn't get to be a vampire. Mark, though, seems to assume that when people turn into vampires, they keep their selves in some sense: if you were efficient and smart as a human, you'll be efficient and smart as a vampire. It seems like vampiredom is just as aspect of humanity. Evil isn't a weakness, in this view; it's just using your strengths to another purpose.