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Nicola
Allen Gibson is the manager of the wombat farm in Melaleuca. He takes his job seriously and holds himself to a high standard, which means that when the first wombats die, he holds off on telling Mrs Quorn about them until he knows how to solve the problem. Allen rapidly transforms from a pleasant, diligent farmer who enjoys the company of Nicola and Charlotte and the quiet life he leads on Melaleuca to a haggard, violently unhinged man possessed by a cormorant spirit. By the time he realizes he’s responsible for the wombat deaths, he’s no longer capable of remorse or empathy. His dramatic transformation highlights the treacherous power of nature and the helplessness of humans in the face of it.
Allen Gibson Quotes in Flames
The Flames quotes below are all either spoken by Allen Gibson or refer to Allen Gibson. 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:
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Feather Quotes
I suppose if you were to suspect one of us, it would be Charlotte, the new hand—but, hard as I try, I cannot convince myself that she is responsible. Yes, behind her pale face there lurks a curious ferocity; and yet, she often wanders through the freezing fields alone after her work for the day is done; and yes, she occasionally seems to lose control of herself in fits of quiet emotion, eyes closed, hands clenched, small noises leaking through her gritted teeth. But it cannot be her; she loves the wombats more than Nicola does, if that were possible.
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They simper after the herd, cooing and frowning at the skinny beasts, treating them as if they were sick children, not mindless marsupials. They are certainly no help in dealing with what is actually threatening them. Each morning I march off, gun in hand and knife in belt, as their eyes follow me filled with what looks more and more like fear. It is futile, feminine softness, and nothing more. I am beginning to regret hiring them.
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Grass Quotes
But as far as he knew, Allen was fine. A quiet man, but a sane one. A good farmer. A friend, or the closest thing to a friend he had down here. So he didn’t give these women what they wanted, not straight away. He told them he’d visit the farm. He would see it all for himself, and he would sort things out.
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Allen Gibson Character Timeline in Flames
The timeline below shows where the character Allen Gibson appears in Flames. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Feather
In his diary, Allen Gibson writes that something is killing the wombats on his farm in Melaleuca. The deaths...
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Allen feels a close bond with the wombats—they’re the closest thing he has to a family....
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Allen doesn’t think it’s necessary to contact the farm’s owner, Mrs Quorn, yet. He doesn’t want...
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In his next diary entry, Allen writes that the plan to sleep amongst the wombats seemed to succeed for the first...
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In the next entry, Allen describes finding six cormorant feathers with the most recent wombat corpse. He concludes that the...
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The next diary entry details Allen’s frustrating pursuit of the cormorant. He can find it easily, but as soon as he...
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In Allen’s next diary entry, he describes the dreams he had the previous night, which felt more...
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Allen’s next entry begins, “Damn these women!” in response to Charlotte and Nicola contacting the ranger...
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Allen writes the next entry despite being overwhelmed by pain. He describes waking up after the...
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Allen feels the scraping of a beak, not from outside but from within himself. He hears...
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Allen is about to stab one of the wombats when he hears Nicola screaming at him....
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After a week in the mine, Allen’s severe burns have healed well (which he assumes is because of the cormorant within him)....
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Grass
...at the ranger’s hut and report on the deaths at the wombat farms, claiming that Allen has gone mad and asking for a way out, the ranger doesn’t believe them at...
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Snow
Nicola remembers Allen bringing Charlotte up from the dock at Melaleuca. Though at first Charlotte hardly looked at...
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