Breaking Night

by

Liz Murray

Daddy / Peter Finnerty Character Analysis

Peter Finnerty—who Liz refers to throughout as “Daddy”—is a clever and witty but troubled man. An excellent student, who at one point pursues a graduate degree in social work, Peter decides that there’s more money in selling drugs to his wealthy college friends than there is in pursuing an advanced degree. By the late 1970s, he’s become a successful drug dealer—a decision that arguably ruins his life. He becomes increasingly dependent on drugs, to the point where he doesn’t seem to care about anything else, and shortly before Liz’s birth, he’s arrested for selling drugs and sentenced to three years in prison. For most of Liz’s memoir, Daddy is a mysterious and sometimes sinister presence in Liz’s life. Liz knows that he has a daughter from a previous relationship, Meredith, who he abandoned when she was only two years old—and this makes Liz afraid of her father and hesitant to trust him. For many years, Liz barely sees or talks to her father—they have even less of a relationship than do Liz and her mother. Following Liz’s mother’s death, however, as well as Liz’s acceptance to Harvard University, Liz begins to reconcile with her father. She doesn’t forget his neglectful behavior or his emotional callousness, but she also makes an effort to respect him and support him as he struggles with the symptoms of AIDS. Toward the end of the book, Daddy writes Liz a note saying, “Thank you for making us a family again.”

Daddy / Peter Finnerty Quotes in Breaking Night

The Breaking Night quotes below are all either spoken by Daddy / Peter Finnerty or refer to Daddy / Peter Finnerty. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Willpower and Independence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

I raised my arms into the air, and gave a singsong, 'Al-l-l do-ne."
Taken off guard, Ma paused, leaned in and asked disbelievingly, "What did you say, pumpkin?”
“A-l-l-l done," I repeated, delighted at Ma's sudden interest.
She yelled for Daddy. "Peter, she knows! Look at her, she understands!"

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 13-14
Explanation and Analysis:

Lisa and I dined on Happy Meals in front of the black-and-white TV, to the sound of spoons clanking on the nearby table, chairs being pulled in—and those elongated moments of silence when we knew what they were concentrating on. Daddy had to do it for Ma because with her bad eyesight she could never find a vein.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I don't recall Daddy ever talking about Meredith at home or in front of Ma. She never came to visit. Sometimes it felt as though I made up the memory of her, but I knew I hadn't. And every now and then Lisa and I would talk about how we wanted to meet Meredith again, and get to know our big sister. But no one talked about Daddy's other life before us, or our other sister.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray, Meredith
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:

When Ma was plastered to the couch, flies buzzing over her head, cigarette butts floating in her nearby bottle of beer, it just didn't seem right to tell her that I’d spent my day at a picnic or at the pool, playing in the sun, eating home-cooked meals with Rick and Danny's family. The same went for Daddy and Lisa. Any joy I managed outside of our home felt, to me, like a form of betrayal.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray, Rick Hernandez, Danny Hernandez, Liz Hernandez
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

I stared at Meredith's face as a baby and compared it to Daddy's. Taking in her complete vulnerability as an infant, I wondered where she was now, and how Daddy could have left her behind, and why we never talked about her. It filled me with a deeply unsettling feeling to wonder what else he was capable of doing.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Meredith
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

If he was tap-dancing his end of the conversation, so would I. Why tell him I was absent all the time from school? Why confront him? If he couldn't do anything about our problems, then what would be the point in venting at Daddy? It would only stress him more, and I didn't want to do that to him. It felt mean. So I decided to censor my life from my father, and to have him think everything was just great.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

So I let go of my hurt. I let go years of frustration between us. Most of all, I let go of any desire to change my father and I accepted him for who he was. I took all of my anguish and released it like a fistful of helium balloons to the sky, and I chose to forgive him.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 295
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

"Lizzy, I left any dreams behind a long time ago, but I know now that they are safe with you. Thank you for making us a family again."

Related Characters: Daddy / Peter Finnerty (speaker), Elizabeth “Liz” Murray
Page Number: 326
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Breaking Night LitChart as a printable PDF.
Breaking Night PDF

Daddy / Peter Finnerty Quotes in Breaking Night

The Breaking Night quotes below are all either spoken by Daddy / Peter Finnerty or refer to Daddy / Peter Finnerty. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Willpower and Independence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

I raised my arms into the air, and gave a singsong, 'Al-l-l do-ne."
Taken off guard, Ma paused, leaned in and asked disbelievingly, "What did you say, pumpkin?”
“A-l-l-l done," I repeated, delighted at Ma's sudden interest.
She yelled for Daddy. "Peter, she knows! Look at her, she understands!"

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 13-14
Explanation and Analysis:

Lisa and I dined on Happy Meals in front of the black-and-white TV, to the sound of spoons clanking on the nearby table, chairs being pulled in—and those elongated moments of silence when we knew what they were concentrating on. Daddy had to do it for Ma because with her bad eyesight she could never find a vein.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I don't recall Daddy ever talking about Meredith at home or in front of Ma. She never came to visit. Sometimes it felt as though I made up the memory of her, but I knew I hadn't. And every now and then Lisa and I would talk about how we wanted to meet Meredith again, and get to know our big sister. But no one talked about Daddy's other life before us, or our other sister.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray, Meredith
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:

When Ma was plastered to the couch, flies buzzing over her head, cigarette butts floating in her nearby bottle of beer, it just didn't seem right to tell her that I’d spent my day at a picnic or at the pool, playing in the sun, eating home-cooked meals with Rick and Danny's family. The same went for Daddy and Lisa. Any joy I managed outside of our home felt, to me, like a form of betrayal.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Ma / Jean Murray, Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Lisa Murray, Rick Hernandez, Danny Hernandez, Liz Hernandez
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

I stared at Meredith's face as a baby and compared it to Daddy's. Taking in her complete vulnerability as an infant, I wondered where she was now, and how Daddy could have left her behind, and why we never talked about her. It filled me with a deeply unsettling feeling to wonder what else he was capable of doing.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty, Meredith
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

If he was tap-dancing his end of the conversation, so would I. Why tell him I was absent all the time from school? Why confront him? If he couldn't do anything about our problems, then what would be the point in venting at Daddy? It would only stress him more, and I didn't want to do that to him. It felt mean. So I decided to censor my life from my father, and to have him think everything was just great.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

So I let go of my hurt. I let go years of frustration between us. Most of all, I let go of any desire to change my father and I accepted him for who he was. I took all of my anguish and released it like a fistful of helium balloons to the sky, and I chose to forgive him.

Related Characters: Elizabeth “Liz” Murray (speaker), Daddy / Peter Finnerty
Page Number: 295
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

"Lizzy, I left any dreams behind a long time ago, but I know now that they are safe with you. Thank you for making us a family again."

Related Characters: Daddy / Peter Finnerty (speaker), Elizabeth “Liz” Murray
Page Number: 326
Explanation and Analysis: