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Coraline (Cora) Allbright
Ernt Allbright is the father of Leni Allbright and the husband of Coraline Allbright. Once a happy young man, Ernt is radically altered by the horrors of the Vietnam War. While in Vietnam, Ernt is captured, tortured, and forced to watch his friend, Bo Harlan, die. In an attempt to find happiness, Ernt moves his family to Kaneq, Alaska where he was bequeathed land by Bo. Although Ernt’s time in Alaska begins peacefully enough, soon winter starts to approach, and he becomes moody and abusive. He also becomes close friends with Earl Harlan who is convinced that an apocalyptic event is on the horizon. Ernt’s relationship to Earl increases his paranoia and he begins to develop new ways to protect himself and his property. After alienating himself from the rest of the community, Ernt’s paranoia culminates in the construction of a large barricade around his property. No one is allowed in or out of it without Ernt’s permission and he wears the key around his neck. Though Ernt believes he is protecting his family, he also continues to abuse them. He regularly beats Cora, especially in the wintertime, and he is physically aggressive with Leni. Additionally, Ernt is excessively jealous of Tom Walker’s wealth and his relationship with Cora. He orders Leni and Cora to stay away from the entire Walker family, including Matthew, the soon-to-be father of Leni’s child. When Ernt learns that Leni is pregnant with Matthew’s child, he brutally beats Leni. Wanting to protect her daughter, Cora shoots Ernt in twice in the back, killing him.
Ernt Allbright Quotes in The Great Alone
The The Great Alone quotes below are all either spoken by Ernt Allbright or refer to Ernt Allbright. 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 1
Quotes
That spring, rain fell in great sweeping gusts that rattled the rooftops. Water found its way into the smallest cracks and undermined the sturdiest foundations. Chunks of land that had been steady for generations fell like slag heaps on the roads below, taking houses and cars and swimming pools down with them. Trees fell over, crashed into power lines; electricity was lost. Rivers flooded their banks, washed across yards, ruined homes. People who loved each other snapped and fights erupted as the water rose and the rain continued.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Your dad cleared out our savings account. And they won’t give me a credit card unless your father or my father cosigns.” She lit up a cigarette. “Sweet Jesus, it’s 1974. I have a job. I make money. And a woman can’t get a credit card without a man’s signature. It’s a man’s world, baby girl.” She started the car and sped down the street, turning onto the freeway.
Chapter 5
Quotes
“Our friends showed up at noon to help us prepare for winter,” Dad said. “No. They’re better than friends, Red. They’re comrades.”
Comrades?
Leni frowned. Were they communists now? She was pretty sure her dad hated the commies as much as he hated the Man and hippies.
“This is what the world should be, Red. People helping each other instead of killing their mothers for a little bread.”
Leni couldn’t help noticing that almost everyone had a gun holstered at his or her waist.
Chapter 8
Quotes
He picked out the small, plump heart and held it up to Leni. Blood leaked between his fingers. “You’re the hunter. Eat the heart.”
“Ernt, please,” Mama said, “we’re not savages.”
“That’s exactly what we are,” he said in a voice as cold as the wind at their back. “Eat it.”
Chapter 10
Quotes
Leni saw his love for her, shining through his regret. It eroded her anger, made her question everything again. He didn’t want to hurt Mama, didn’t mean to. He was sick …
Chapter 11
Quotes
“I love you,” Mama said, and she was crying now, too, and suddenly Leni understood the reality of her world, the truth that Alaska, in all its beautiful harshness, had revealed. They were trapped, by environment and finances, but mostly by the sick, twisted love that bound her parents together.
Leni sighed. How was Mama’s unshakable belief in Dad any different than his fear of Armageddon? Did adults just look at the world and see what they wanted to see, think what they wanted to think? Did evidence and experience mean nothing?
Chapter 13
Quotes
Every window was broken, the door had been hacked to bits, left as sharp shards of wood hanging from brass hinges, and white spray-painted graffiti covered the burnt walls. THIS IS A WARNING. STAY AWAY. ARROGANT PRICK. NO PROGRESS.
Chapter 19
Quotes
“If he loved you guys, he wouldn’t hurt you.”
He made it sound so simple, as if it were a mathematical equation. But the connection between pain and love wasn’t linear. It was a web.
Chapter 21
Quotes
Mostly he was afraid for Leni, because no matter how this all worked out, no matter if she did everything perfectly and got away and saved her mom, Leni’s heart would always have a broken place. It didn’t matter how you lost a parent or how great or shitty that parent was, a kid grieved forever. Matthew grieved for the mother he’d had. He figured Leni would grieve for the dad she wanted.
Get the entire The Great Alone LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ernt Allbright Quotes in The Great Alone
The The Great Alone quotes below are all either spoken by Ernt Allbright or refer to Ernt Allbright. 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 1
Quotes
That spring, rain fell in great sweeping gusts that rattled the rooftops. Water found its way into the smallest cracks and undermined the sturdiest foundations. Chunks of land that had been steady for generations fell like slag heaps on the roads below, taking houses and cars and swimming pools down with them. Trees fell over, crashed into power lines; electricity was lost. Rivers flooded their banks, washed across yards, ruined homes. People who loved each other snapped and fights erupted as the water rose and the rain continued.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Your dad cleared out our savings account. And they won’t give me a credit card unless your father or my father cosigns.” She lit up a cigarette. “Sweet Jesus, it’s 1974. I have a job. I make money. And a woman can’t get a credit card without a man’s signature. It’s a man’s world, baby girl.” She started the car and sped down the street, turning onto the freeway.
Chapter 5
Quotes
“Our friends showed up at noon to help us prepare for winter,” Dad said. “No. They’re better than friends, Red. They’re comrades.”
Comrades?
Leni frowned. Were they communists now? She was pretty sure her dad hated the commies as much as he hated the Man and hippies.
“This is what the world should be, Red. People helping each other instead of killing their mothers for a little bread.”
Leni couldn’t help noticing that almost everyone had a gun holstered at his or her waist.
Chapter 8
Quotes
He picked out the small, plump heart and held it up to Leni. Blood leaked between his fingers. “You’re the hunter. Eat the heart.”
“Ernt, please,” Mama said, “we’re not savages.”
“That’s exactly what we are,” he said in a voice as cold as the wind at their back. “Eat it.”
Chapter 10
Quotes
Leni saw his love for her, shining through his regret. It eroded her anger, made her question everything again. He didn’t want to hurt Mama, didn’t mean to. He was sick …
Chapter 11
Quotes
“I love you,” Mama said, and she was crying now, too, and suddenly Leni understood the reality of her world, the truth that Alaska, in all its beautiful harshness, had revealed. They were trapped, by environment and finances, but mostly by the sick, twisted love that bound her parents together.
Leni sighed. How was Mama’s unshakable belief in Dad any different than his fear of Armageddon? Did adults just look at the world and see what they wanted to see, think what they wanted to think? Did evidence and experience mean nothing?
Chapter 13
Quotes
Every window was broken, the door had been hacked to bits, left as sharp shards of wood hanging from brass hinges, and white spray-painted graffiti covered the burnt walls. THIS IS A WARNING. STAY AWAY. ARROGANT PRICK. NO PROGRESS.
Chapter 19
Quotes
“If he loved you guys, he wouldn’t hurt you.”
He made it sound so simple, as if it were a mathematical equation. But the connection between pain and love wasn’t linear. It was a web.
Chapter 21
Quotes
Mostly he was afraid for Leni, because no matter how this all worked out, no matter if she did everything perfectly and got away and saved her mom, Leni’s heart would always have a broken place. It didn’t matter how you lost a parent or how great or shitty that parent was, a kid grieved forever. Matthew grieved for the mother he’d had. He figured Leni would grieve for the dad she wanted.
