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Alan is a middle-aged man whom Fin befriends in the parking garage refugee commune. He reads a lot and encourages Fin to read as well. Alan opens up to Fin about his falling out with his brother, as well as his traumatizing experiences he endured while serving in the Vietnam War as a teenager. Alan ultimately dies of radiation poisoning, and Fin and his friends lay him to rest in the harbor.
Alan Quotes in The Sky So Heavy
The The Sky So Heavy quotes below are all either spoken by Alan or refer to Alan. 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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Chapter 33 Quotes
I draw Alan floating on the sea sitting in a bookshelf, pages scattered on the surface of the water. I draw the scene I remember from the supermarket, with the doors smashed and the shelves nearly bare. It occurs to me that drawings may be the only lasting record of what is happening.
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Chapter 35 Quotes
‘You know what I think? I think he makes you see yourself a little clearer than you would like to. And that gives you the shits. No one wants to see themselves for what they really are.’
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Chapter 39 Quotes
We drop Alan’s body into lapping, undulating darkness and I watch the white sheet dance and swirl as he disappears. No-one moves for a long time. We stand and gaze at the water – the rhythmic roll and swell of its surface – and I realise that there is something soothing in the way it still moves the same way as it did before, back when the world was so different.
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Alan Character Timeline in The Sky So Heavy
The timeline below shows where the character Alan appears in The Sky So Heavy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 31
A man named Alan approaches and introduces himself. He explains the basics of life in the parking garage, which...
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Chapter 32
...three days in the car park, Rosa comes by telling them that it’s rations day. Alan explains that they do random ID checks when handing out rations, and that previous refugees...
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Fin goes to say hi to Alan, who’s reading Hemingway on his mattress next to his boxes of books. Alan offers him...
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Chapter 33
Fin draws Alan floating on floodwaters and surrounded by debris, and he reflects that in the future, drawings...
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Chapter 35
Alan talks to Fin, advising him to take Arnold with him next time he goes out...
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Chapter 36
...pinning someone from the commune and yelling as if he’s arresting the man. Fin and Alan intervene and realize that Matt is starting to go crazy from sleep deprivation. Alan gives...
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Chapter 39
The next morning, they discover that Alan has died. That night, the group minus Max take Alan’s body to the Sydney harbor...
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Chapter 40
...his friends there. Half-asleep the next morning, Fin imagines he sees the faces of Arnold, Alan, and Greg. Effrez gives them a hearty goodbye, and they drive off. Leaving the city,...
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