The Great Alone: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

When Leni and Cora arrive in town, they see their van at the Kicking Moose—the local bar. Before they can make their way to Ernt, Tom Walker and Marge come out of Marge’s store and ask why Leni and Cora are outside in such bad weather. Cora tells them what happened to the animals, and they quickly figure out that Ernt was not home to help. Tom begins moving angrily toward The Kicking Moose, even though Cora begs him to stop. Tom ignores Cora, goes inside, and confronts Ernt. Tom begins yelling at Ernt about keeping his family safe, to which Ernt responds, “You got no right to say anything about keeping a woman safe, do you, Tom?” Enraged, Tom drags Ernt out into the street like a child and throws him into the van.

Cora and Leni know Tom’s actions have only made things worse. No one talks on the drive home, but Cora and Leni know that Ernt will explode when they arrive at the cabin. Sure enough, before long Ernt is once again abusing Cora. He locks Leni out in the cold and mercilessly beats his wife. When Leni is able to reenter the cabin, she sees blood everywhere and finds Cora with what looks like a broken nose. Leni begins packing up their things and tells Cora to get in the van. She also brings along one of the Allbrights’ emergency bags. She tells Cora that they are leaving Ernt and not coming back. Cora protests, but ultimately acquiesces.

Cora begins the drive toward town. Just past the Walker property, Cora swerves to dodge a moose that is in the road. This causes the bus to swerve off the road and roll into some trees. Leni loses consciousness. When she come to, she sees her mother with a broken arm. Cora tells Leni that she must climb out of the van and go to Tom Walker for help. Cora herself cannot move because of the broken arm. Leni is scared, but eventually does as her mother asks. She climbs out of the van and moves through the cold to find Tom. When Leni arrives at the Walker property, Tom immediately springs into action. He calls Marge on the radio and together the two of them manage to rescue Cora. Tom then takes Cora to the nearest hospital on his boat.

Now at the hospital, Tom comforts Leni while Cora is seen by doctors. They briefly talk about Matthew to take their mind off things. Finally, a doctor informs them that Cora is okay, and that Leni saved her life. When they see Cora, Tom offers to help with Ernt, but Cora refuses his help. She still loves Ernt despite everything and thinks Tom will only make things worse. In the middle of this conversation, Ernt arrives and once again apologizes to Leni and Cora. 

After returning home, Leni suggests to Cora that they leave Alaska. Cora dismisses the idea; they are poor, and she thinks Ernt has changed for good this time. Leni loves her mother but fails to understand how she could be so deeply in denial. After this conversation, Marge and Tom arrive and tell Ernt and Cora to sit down at the table. Ernt protests, but then complies. Marge tells the story of what brought her to Alaska: her ex-brother-in-law beat her sister to death. She left the continental U.S. to try and escape that trauma, but then Ernt arrived. Marge tells Ernt that he is going to spend his winters working on the pipeline; this will allow Ernt to provide for his family and keep him away from them when the weather is bad. In the meantime, Marge plans to stay with Cora and Leni.