Maybe if he had one more drink they'd leave him alone. Gerry Fegan told himself that lie before every swallow. He chased the whiskey's burn with a cool black mouthful of Guinness and placed the glass back on the table. Look up and they'll be gone, he thought. No. They were still there, still staring. Twelve of them if he counted the baby in its mother's arms.
-- Gerry Fegan (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote opens the action of the novel itself, and establishes, within the space of a few sentences, the main circumstances of the book. The reader meets Gerry Fegan, the main character, and the spirits that haunt him at the same time. Multiple characters refer to Gerry as a "drunk" throughout the book and underestimate his ability because of his tendency to drink (354). The revelation, in the first few pages, of the root cause for Gerry's drinking habit makes the reader understand that...