The Dressmaker

The Dressmaker

by

Rosalie Ham

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Mr. Almanac is a vicious, spiteful man who runs the chemist’s shop in Dungatar. He is married to Irma Almanac. Mr. Almanac has Parkinson’s disease and is hunched and bent because of his condition; he cannot see where he is going because his head faces the ground, so he’s assisted around the shop by Nancy Pickett. When Mr. Almanac was young and healthy, however, he used to beat Irma. Now that he cannot physically abuse her, he abuses his power over her by refusing to prescribe her drugs for her painful arthritis. Irma cannot go to another doctor because there is no other doctor in Dungatar, and the residents rely on Mr. Almanac for medication. Mr. Almanac, however, believes that people get ill because they bring it upon themselves through their sinful behavior. He is therefore unsympathetic with his patients and reluctant to help people. Every night after work, Nancy wheels Mr. Almanac across the road in his wheelchair, where Irma catches him with a pillow and takes him inside. However, one night, Irma falls asleep in her chair by the front gate. Mr. Almanac wheels past her, rolls through the house and out the back door, and drowns to death in the river behind their house.

Mr. Almanac Quotes in The Dressmaker

The The Dressmaker quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Almanac or refer to Mr. Almanac. 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:
Transformation, Illusion, and Truth  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

Mr. Almanac tended the townsfolk with the contents of his refrigerator, and only Mr. Almanac knew what you needed and why. (The nearest doctor was thirty miles away.)

Related Characters: Mr. Almanac
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

‘Your husband's mighty slow these days. How did you manage that?’ Tilly placed an apologetic hand, lighter than pollen, on Mrs. Almanac's cold, stony shoulder. Irma smiled. 'Percival says God is responsible for everything.' She used to have a lot of falls, which left her with a black eye or a cut lip. Over the years, as her husband ground to a stiff and shuffling old man, her injuries ceased.

Related Characters: Tilly Dunnage (speaker), Irma Almanac (speaker), Molly Dunnage, Mr. Almanac
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

She eats birdseed and fruit and other things she has sent from the city. She gets things from overseas too, from places I've never heard of. She mixes things up—potions—says they're herbs, "remedial", and she pretends to be an arty type, so why would she want to stay here?

Related Characters: Molly Dunnage (speaker), Tilly Dunnage, Teddy McSwiney, Mr. Almanac
Related Symbols: Plants and Herbs
Page Number: 67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

Then her round soft babe was still and blue and wrapped in cotton-flannel and Molly, pained and cold in her rain-soaked coffin turned stiffly to her, and Teddy, sorghum-coated and gaping, clawing, a chocolate seed-dipped cadaver. Evan and Percival Almanac stood shaking their fingers at her and behind them the citizens of Dungatar crawled up The Hill in the dark, armed with firewood and flames, stakes and chains, but she just walked out to her veranda and smiled down at them and they turned and fled.

Related Characters: Tilly Dunnage, Molly Dunnage, Teddy McSwiney, Evan Pettyman, Mr. Almanac, Pablo
Related Symbols: Plants and Herbs
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Almanac Quotes in The Dressmaker

The The Dressmaker quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Almanac or refer to Mr. Almanac. 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:
Transformation, Illusion, and Truth  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

Mr. Almanac tended the townsfolk with the contents of his refrigerator, and only Mr. Almanac knew what you needed and why. (The nearest doctor was thirty miles away.)

Related Characters: Mr. Almanac
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

‘Your husband's mighty slow these days. How did you manage that?’ Tilly placed an apologetic hand, lighter than pollen, on Mrs. Almanac's cold, stony shoulder. Irma smiled. 'Percival says God is responsible for everything.' She used to have a lot of falls, which left her with a black eye or a cut lip. Over the years, as her husband ground to a stiff and shuffling old man, her injuries ceased.

Related Characters: Tilly Dunnage (speaker), Irma Almanac (speaker), Molly Dunnage, Mr. Almanac
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

She eats birdseed and fruit and other things she has sent from the city. She gets things from overseas too, from places I've never heard of. She mixes things up—potions—says they're herbs, "remedial", and she pretends to be an arty type, so why would she want to stay here?

Related Characters: Molly Dunnage (speaker), Tilly Dunnage, Teddy McSwiney, Mr. Almanac
Related Symbols: Plants and Herbs
Page Number: 67
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

Then her round soft babe was still and blue and wrapped in cotton-flannel and Molly, pained and cold in her rain-soaked coffin turned stiffly to her, and Teddy, sorghum-coated and gaping, clawing, a chocolate seed-dipped cadaver. Evan and Percival Almanac stood shaking their fingers at her and behind them the citizens of Dungatar crawled up The Hill in the dark, armed with firewood and flames, stakes and chains, but she just walked out to her veranda and smiled down at them and they turned and fled.

Related Characters: Tilly Dunnage, Molly Dunnage, Teddy McSwiney, Evan Pettyman, Mr. Almanac, Pablo
Related Symbols: Plants and Herbs
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis: