Previous
Jock McIvor
Ellen is Jock’s wife and the matriarch of the McIvor family. Although Ellen, as a woman, is societally disempowered, she represents one of the strongest characters in the story. After emigrating to Australia from Scotland with Jock and seeing his depression set in, Ellen becomes the driving force in the McIvor family, carefully establishing the pace and order of each day so that Jock and Lachlan will get their work done. Ellen remains strong even though she bears her own pains, including the loss of two babies before they moved to the settlement. Unlike her husband, Ellen is independent enough not to care what the other settlers think of her from the start, and thus she is open and receptive to Gemmy as soon as he arrives, extending a motherly affection to him that he has never experienced before. When their family is harassed and attacked for protecting Gemmy, Ellen’s support of both Gemmy and her husband in keeping him are unflinching, though she does recognize that it puts Jock in a difficult position, caught between his family and his friends. Ellen recognizes her own strength in her daughter Janet, particularly when Janet waits outside with her in the darkness for Jock to bring Gemmy back after he is abducted. However, she also worries about her daughter, whom she recognizes is brimming with potential but stifled by the narrow life afforded her by the settlement.
Ellen McIvor Quotes in Remembering Babylon
The Remembering Babylon quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen McIvor or refer to Ellen McIvor. 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:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
The man was troubled. Gemmy saw it and was watchful. Jock’s fear of getting on the wrong side of his friends might in the end be more dangerous to him, he thought, than the open hostility he met in the settlement, where he was always under suspicion, and always, even when no one appeared to be watching, under scrutiny.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
[Ellen] lived in the demands of the moment, in the girls, in Lachlan, and was too high-spirited, too independent, to care whether other women approved of her.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
[Janet] saw something else as well. That in playing his part, Mr. Abbot had no more to do than Hector had. They only thought they were playing, because Leona managed things so cleverly, putting words into their mouths they they had never in fact spoken, and taking both parts herself.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9
Quotes
And the stone, once launched, had a life of its own. It flew in all directions, developed a capacity to multiply, accelerate, leave wounds; and the wounds were real even if the stone was not, and would not heal.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Remembering Babylon LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ellen McIvor Quotes in Remembering Babylon
The Remembering Babylon quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen McIvor or refer to Ellen McIvor. 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:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
The man was troubled. Gemmy saw it and was watchful. Jock’s fear of getting on the wrong side of his friends might in the end be more dangerous to him, he thought, than the open hostility he met in the settlement, where he was always under suspicion, and always, even when no one appeared to be watching, under scrutiny.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
[Ellen] lived in the demands of the moment, in the girls, in Lachlan, and was too high-spirited, too independent, to care whether other women approved of her.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
[Janet] saw something else as well. That in playing his part, Mr. Abbot had no more to do than Hector had. They only thought they were playing, because Leona managed things so cleverly, putting words into their mouths they they had never in fact spoken, and taking both parts herself.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9
Quotes
And the stone, once launched, had a life of its own. It flew in all directions, developed a capacity to multiply, accelerate, leave wounds; and the wounds were real even if the stone was not, and would not heal.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
