How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You lit the fires as much as I did. You told me, go out and burn. Besides, we're reflections, blood brothers, remember? What I do, you do."
The cold wind had brought water to my eyes; I smeared them dry on my sleeve. I could smell, on the breeze, the earthen scent of him. "You remember that, don't you, Anwell?"
Something dangerous wafted from him—something not to be denied. "Yes, I remember." (9.89-91)
Hmm… is it just us, or is this a big clue? Through Gabriel's memories, we start to get a fuller picture of the past, complete with what actually happened instead of just what Gabriel wants us to know. Plus, we always get a bunch of sensory details about exactly what Gabriel was experiencing in the moment, which helps us picture it, too.
Quote #5
Time is shorter than I'd thought: very well. I haven't seen Finnigan for more than a year. It seems longer than that. This small room irked him when he was last here; my weakness infuriated him. He'd urged me to get up and walk. He'd flirted with Sarah and been rude to the doctor. I'd had to ask him to leave. He'd done so in black temper, and I knew that one day he'd return. (15.1)
They say time heals all wounds, but not for Gabriel, who thinks about time as too short because he wants to put more distance between him and Finnigan. His memory of how Finnigan reacted to his requests scares him, too, like he's warning himself of what might happen in the future through his memory of the past.
Quote #6
For hours at a time I gave Finnigan no thought. I was distracted, morose, feverish, vacant, I felt I lived in some pleasantly maddening cage, where my thoughts could roam but never beyond her. (15.23)
As Gabriel gets nearer and nearer to death, his mind wanders more and his memories fade. That's the thing about memory: Sometimes it slips away when we want it most. Gabriel wants to think about Evangeline and the happy times in his life, but instead, he's plagued with stronger memories of Finnigan.