"In this world, I want to be of service to you, obey your every desire without rest or delay. But when we meet again on the other side, you shall do the same for me."
This quote is the essence of Shadow's offer to Shorty at the beginning of the play. It is a scene paraphrased from Faust, where Mephistopheles (the Devil's advocate) offers Faust ultimate power and pleasure in earthly life in exchange for his immortal soul. In this life, Shadow will serve Shorty to the utmost limits of his power, giving him strength, power, and glory. It's all a performance, though; in the terrifying depths of eternity, Shorty will be a slave to the Devil.
"The other side does not worry me. Once this world is shattered and destroyed, the next one can replace it. From this earth springs my joy; this sun shines upon my sorrows. Once I am free from them, let come what may! It does not matter in the future whether men hate or love. Whether there is a below or an above, I do not care to know."
This quote reveals Shorty's rationale for accepting Shadow's dangerous offer. Like most people, Shorty lives in the present. The future afterlife doesn't worry him - he's more concerned about more pressing issues. He's not even sure whether there is an afterlife, so Shadow's offer seems like a smart gamble to make. If there's no afterlife, then Shorty will get all of Shadow's benefits without any of the repercussions. His underlying psyche, though, makes him value the immediate happiness over the vagueness of future misery.
"It's taken me a while but I get it now. From the very beginning, everything was in place. Everything was doomed."
At this point in the play, Shorty has realized the true nature of the pact he made with Shadow. He grasps its implications, lamenting his foolishness and his current predicament. Having achieved what he had desired, glory and fame, he no longer finds pleasure in them. This dissatisfaction, he understands, was destined from the very moment he accepted Shadow's offer: everything was already doomed.
