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Vic’s Wife (Gail)
The boy in the sheepskin jacket, as he is known to Vic Lang, who only observes him from a distance, is Gordon “Boner” McPharlin. Sharing a nickname with Boner’s father, Boner is the local bad boy in Angelus, known for his extreme pranks. Eventually his antics lead to his expulsion. Boner drives a cool van around town and enjoys taking people for rides. He develops a tender but chaste relationship with Jackie. Boner lives alone with his father, in a shed behind the main house. As he grows older and drugs flood into Angelus, Boner becomes involved in crime, apparently working with corrupt police detectives. In a spectacular, unexplained incident, Boner is found on the beach with his legs broken, possibly by the detectives. Boner recovers and spends time fishing with Jackie, a pastime that brings him true joy. He organizes a massive beach party for her graduation, but when she leaves for university, they fall out of touch. As Boner continues to be involved in crime, his mental health deteriorates, until his father dies, and he is found in an incoherent state in a shed; his disturbing pornography collection with cut-out pictures of Jackie also comes to light. Boner is institutionalized and remains largely incoherent, cryptically ranting to Jackie about his experiences. He dies of a heart attack, and only Jackie and the detectives attend his funeral.
Boner McPharlin (The Boy in the Sheepskin Jacket) Quotes in The Turning
The The Turning quotes below are all either spoken by Boner McPharlin (The Boy in the Sheepskin Jacket) or refer to Boner McPharlin (The Boy in the Sheepskin Jacket). 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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Commission Quotes
Drugs, I spose. Never really understood it. Just that he’d fallen foul of em. And any question, any witness account died on the vine, didn’t matter who it came to. Felt like, whatever was going on I was the only bloke not in on it. And the city blokes were in on it; it was bigger than that little town, that’s for sure. So who do you talk to? Even if you’ve got the balls, who can you trust? It ate me alive. Ulcers, everything. I should have quit but I didn’t even have the courage to do that. Would have saved us all a lot of pain. But it’s all I ever wanted to do, you see, be a cop. And I hung on till there was nothing left of me, nothing left of any of us. Cowardice, it’s a way of life. It’s not natural, you learn it.
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Boner McPharlin’s Moll Quotes
The bedrails jingled as he shook.
But I’m solid, he said. Solid as a brick shithouse. Unreliable be fucked. Why they keep callin me unreliable? I drive and drive. I don’t say a word. They know, they know. Don’t say a fuckin word. Don’t leave me out, don’t let me go, I’m solid. I’m solid!
He began to cry then. A nurse came in and said maybe I should go.
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All I knew was this, that I hadn’t been Boner’s friend at all. Hadn’t been for years. A friend paid attention, showed a modicum of curiosity, made a bit of an effort. A friend didn’t believe the worst without checking. A friend didn’t keep her eyes shut and walk away. Just the outline now, but I was beginning to see.
They’d turned me. They played with me, set me against him to isolate him completely. Boner was their creature. All that driving, the silence, the leeway, it had to be drugs. He was driving their smack. Or something. Whatever it was he was their creature and they broke him.
I sat in the car beneath the lighthouse and thought of how I’d looked on and seen nothing. I was no different to my parents. Yet I always believed I’d come so far, surpassed so much. At fifteen I would have annihilated myself for love, but over the years something had happened, something I hadn’t bothered to notice, as though in all that leaving, in the rush to outgrow the small-town girl I was, I’d left more of myself behind than the journey required.
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Boner McPharlin (The Boy in the Sheepskin Jacket) Character Timeline in The Turning
The timeline below shows where the character Boner McPharlin (The Boy in the Sheepskin Jacket) appears in The Turning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Long, Clear View
...in town, however, things are not going well. The school is burned down, and everyone blames a strange boy who wears a sheepskin coat ; Vic often sees him around town. The boy is released without charges. Vic’s father...
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...wharf, he almost interrupts a drug deal; he is threatened but leaves without being harmed. The boy with the sheepskin coat is found with his legs broken. People continue to look at Vic strangely; cars follow...
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Commission
...some kind in the police force, one that he was perpetually outside of. He mentions the boy in Angelus with the sheepskin coat whose legs were broken ; apparently, the boy was seen getting into a car with detectives from the city...
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Boner McPharlin’s Moll
The narrator (Jackie), a thirteen-year-old girl, is charmed by the local bad boy, Boner McPharlin. Boner is two years older than her and is eventually expelled during her first...
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Two years pass, and Boner acquires his distinctive car, a garishly tricked-out van. Much to Erin’s chagrin, Jackie agrees to...
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Jackie and Boner keep driving around, but their friendship remains sexless, despite the rumors circulating about them. Jackie...
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...in the new, final school year commits herself to studying, removing herself from social life. Boner, in the meantime, has been fired from the meatworks and is spotted around town in...
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That winter, Boner is found on the beach with his legs broken. When, after two days, Jackie is...
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The next day, Jackie goes to see Boner at his home for the first time. Meeting Boner’s father, she learns Boner’s real name...
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...Charlie in Perth, with whom she shares her first kiss. Back in Angelus, she sees Boner at the gas station and almost goes up to him when his nervous expression warns...
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...Jackie excels in all subjects but French. When she leaves school after the last exam, Boner is waiting for her, to her surprise. He has made her a gift: a small...
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The party goes all night, and Boner is overjoyed. Jackie watches the fireworks, paying close attention to a burning kite overheard. She...
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...is anxious to escape her. Only after graduating does she travel to her parents. Seeing Boner outside a bar, she notices that he does not look well. He invites her for...
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...travels. One day in 1991, Jackie is asked by the police to come to Angelus: Boner is in custody and Boner's father is dead.
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Having expected Boner to be accused of murder, Jackie is surprised by what she finds in Angelus. Boner...
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That afternoon Jackie goes to Boner’s house, which has been torn apart; everything is broken, and there is a harpoon driven...
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Boner is never released from the hospital he is moved to. Jackie visits him only at...
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On New Year’s, Jackie visits Boner. Whispering, he tells her that “Santa’s helpers came early for Christmas,” referring to the “same...
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A week after her visit, Jackie learns Boner has died of a heart attack. Only she, a nurse, and the same four detectives...
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