In the Skin of a Lion

by

Michael Ondaatje

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on In the Skin of a Lion makes teaching easy.
Clara Dickens’s friend and Patrick Lewis’s romantic partner was initially a nun, whom Nicholas Temelcoff saved from falling off the bridge. However, she never talks about this period of her life, focusing instead on her acting career, her relationship with Cato, and her political beliefs. Outraged by the exploitation of the working and the indifference of the rich, she believes passionately in the necessity of a working-class revolution. At the same time, though, she does not truly support violence, as she believes that she could never tell someone to harm another human being. These characteristics reveal her to be a deeply thoughtful and empathetic human being, capable of influencing the people around her. She has high regard for friendship and considers that love is capable of radically shaping someone’s identity. Spontaneous and open-minded, she lives in the present moment, making the most of the community around her.

Alice Gull Quotes in In the Skin of a Lion

The In the Skin of a Lion quotes below are all either spoken by Alice Gull or refer to Alice Gull. 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:
The Working Class vs. the Rich Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2: The Bridge Quotes

So when customers step in at any time, what they are entering is an old courtyard of the Balkans. A violin. Olive trees. Permanent evening. Now the arbor-like wallpaper makes sense to her. Now the parrot has a language.

Related Characters: Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff, Kosta
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 1: Palace of Purification Quotes

He thought, l am moving like a puppet. He touched an arm in the darkness not fully realizing it was human. A hand came from somewhere and held his wrist. “Hello, Patrick.” He turned on the flashlight. She was waiting for the light, like a good actress, ready to be revealed.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:

- Compassion forgives too much. You could forgive the worst man. You forgive him and nothing changes.

- You can teach him, make him aware . . .

- Why leave the power in his hands?

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis (speaker), Alice Gull (speaker)
Related Symbols: Dynamite
Page Number: 123
Explanation and Analysis:

Come on, Patrick, of course some make it. They do it by becoming just like the ones they want to overtake. Like Ambrose. Look at what he became before he disappeared. He was predatory. He let nothing cling to him, not even Clara.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Clara Dickens, Ambrose Small
Page Number: 123
Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t think I’m big enough to put someone in a position where they have to hurt another.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Related Symbols: Dynamite
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

“The trouble with ideology, Alice, is that it hates the private. You must make it human.”

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:

In books he had read, even those romances he swallowed during childhood, Patrick never believed that characters lived only on the page. They altered when the author’s eye was somewhere else. (…) Each character had his own time zone, his own lamp, otherwise they were just men from nowhere.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:

His own life was no longer a single story but part of a mural, which was a falling together of accomplices.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff, Cato, Hana
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis:
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Alice Gull Quotes in In the Skin of a Lion

The In the Skin of a Lion quotes below are all either spoken by Alice Gull or refer to Alice Gull. 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:
The Working Class vs. the Rich Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2: The Bridge Quotes

So when customers step in at any time, what they are entering is an old courtyard of the Balkans. A violin. Olive trees. Permanent evening. Now the arbor-like wallpaper makes sense to her. Now the parrot has a language.

Related Characters: Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff, Kosta
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 1: Palace of Purification Quotes

He thought, l am moving like a puppet. He touched an arm in the darkness not fully realizing it was human. A hand came from somewhere and held his wrist. “Hello, Patrick.” He turned on the flashlight. She was waiting for the light, like a good actress, ready to be revealed.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:

- Compassion forgives too much. You could forgive the worst man. You forgive him and nothing changes.

- You can teach him, make him aware . . .

- Why leave the power in his hands?

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis (speaker), Alice Gull (speaker)
Related Symbols: Dynamite
Page Number: 123
Explanation and Analysis:

Come on, Patrick, of course some make it. They do it by becoming just like the ones they want to overtake. Like Ambrose. Look at what he became before he disappeared. He was predatory. He let nothing cling to him, not even Clara.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Clara Dickens, Ambrose Small
Page Number: 123
Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t think I’m big enough to put someone in a position where they have to hurt another.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Related Symbols: Dynamite
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

“The trouble with ideology, Alice, is that it hates the private. You must make it human.”

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:

In books he had read, even those romances he swallowed during childhood, Patrick never believed that characters lived only on the page. They altered when the author’s eye was somewhere else. (…) Each character had his own time zone, his own lamp, otherwise they were just men from nowhere.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:

His own life was no longer a single story but part of a mural, which was a falling together of accomplices.

Related Characters: Patrick Lewis, Alice Gull, Nicholas Temelcoff, Cato, Hana
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis: