Elatsoe

by

Darcie Little Badger

Dr. Abe Allerton Character Analysis

The antagonist of the novel, Dr. Allerton is a doctor who lives in Willowbee, Texas and operates a clinic known for its miraculous results. He murders Trevor, and his status as a murderer initially seems incompatible with the caring and community-oriented persona he presents: he leads the local Boy Scout troop, he donates to charity and throws charitable events often, and his practice’s reviews are glowing. However, Ellie and Jay’s sleuthing reveals a dark underside to Dr. Allerton and to Willowbee on the whole. Dr. Allerton cures people by transferring their illnesses or injuries to other people. He murdered Trevor by transferring his own injuries sustained in a drunk-driving crash to Trevor when Trevor found the crashed car and stopped to help. Dr. Allerton sees himself as a neutral force, since he both helps and harms—and all of Willowbee’s residents are aware of, and complicit in, what he does. But Ellie believes, and the novel suggests, that Dr. Allerton is actually a fantastical example of how wealth and status can enable someone to enrich themselves at the expense of vulnerable populations. Ellie punishes Dr. Allerton by abandoning him in the underworld, where emissaries of his numerous victims will torture him.

Dr. Abe Allerton Quotes in Elatsoe

The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Abe Allerton or refer to Dr. Abe Allerton. 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:
Family and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Hopefully, it happened through a police investigation that led to an arrest that resulted in a successful trial by jury and a murder conviction. However, the justice system was imperfect. Many crimes remained unsolved, especially violence against Natives. Plus, Trevor’s death was so strange, magic might have been involved. That was a potential death blow against justice. Magic, as energy from another realm, corrupted and altered the fabric of reality. The defense for Abe Allerton could argue that any trace of magic at the crime scene negated his chance for a fair trial, since there was no way to trust the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Nine times out of ten, that argument worked for people with million-dollar lawyers. Strangely, it rarely worked for anyone else.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

The lawn was speckled by white polka-dots, the heads of round mushrooms. Didn’t mushrooms usually sprout in moist environments? Exactly how much water did Dr. Allerton waste on his grass every day?

Related Characters: Ellie, Dad, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“Here,” Lenore said, handing Ellie a velvet-wrapped parcel. “He wanted you to have this.”

Gingerly, Ellie unwrapped Trevor’s Swiss Army knife. “He used to carry this during hikes,” she said. “Every hike. Even little ones in Grandma’s yard. Just in case.” She held it carefully. “I’ll always carry it, too.”

“That’s Trevor,” Lenore said. “Prepared for just about anything. It didn’t help him in the end.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Swiss Army Knife
Page Number: 90-91
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“The two made off with four hundred dollars, Marlboros, and ten bags of dried meat. I remember a news reporter saying, ‘They killed a man for just four hundred dollars.’ And I thought that the word ‘just’ was completely unnecessary. No amount of money would make the crime less heinous. I don’t care if there was four billion dollars in that register, Ellie.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

Despite all of the warnings Ellie had heard her whole life, the fact remained: waking up a human ghost was like getting struck by lightning. Extremely unlikely but dangerous enough that precautions had to be respected. When it came to attracting electricity during a thunderstorm, there were ways to improve the odds. Fly an aluminum kite. Stand under a tall tree. Wave a metal pole at the tumultuous clouds. Likewise, if somebody wanted to wake up a ghost, they could repeat the deceased’s name, disturb their burial ground, or otherwise meddle with the dead person’s body, possessions, home, or family.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton, Lenore
Page Number: 161
Explanation and Analysis:

“Nathaniel Grace learned a lesson from the fire. He made friends with other Pilgrims by hurting the people who frightened them more than he did.”

Page five continued, with a picture of a boxy building, “Nathaniel Grace made a hospital with the money he earned. He saved many lives.”

[...]

The final page displayed an anatomically accurate drawing of a leech. It belonged in a biology textbook, not a historical biography. Brett concluded: “Nathaniel Grace is a great American because he saved the lives of many people like presidents and war heroes. Without him, the country would not be the same and there would be no Willowbee. He founded the town to be a good home.”

Related Characters: Brett Allerton (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton, Nathaniel Grace
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 163
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

“Be patient. Have faith.” Vivian put her arms around Lenore and Ellie and pulled them into a hug.

“Faith in what?” Lenore asked, and she sounded genuinely curious and a little bit spiteful. “Justice?”

“Family,” Vivian said. “It’s all we’ve ever had.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 240-241
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“He’s just one man.” Trevor leaned forward, rooted to the grave. “There are millions more who will continue to treat our family and land like garbage. Think of them like pests.”

“Pests...”

“Termites in your house. Locusts in your field. It doesn’t make any difference if you crush just one insect. The swarm will devour your home.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 254-255
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

Ellie always reasoned that Six-Great lived in a more violent era, one that transformed pacifists into warriors. Six-Great didn’t fight because she enjoyed it; she had to protect her family and friends from genocide.

There were still people to protect. That, Ellie now realized, would never change.

Related Characters: Ellie, Kirby, Jay, Dr. Abe Allerton, Six-Great, Al
Page Number: 285
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

“Everything I do tonight will be for him. For justice.” The exorcist corpse’s head flopped to one side, as if trying to study Ellie with its cloudy eyes. “He loved you,” the emissary said. “He loved all his family.”

“I love Trevor,” she said. “Always will.”

“Someday, you’ll be reunited,” the emissary promised. “If you want that day to come sooner rather than later, interfere with my vengeance.”

“Vengeance?” she wondered. “Didn’t you say ‘justice’ a moment ago?”

“In this case, they’re the same.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 296
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

“I am a neutral force,” Dr. Allerton said. “My healing balances my harm. Ellie, I tried to help you and your family. Did you know that I collected scholarship money for Trevor’s child? Well? Enough to pay for college! For grad school! You just wouldn’t let it go. Everything is a mess now.”

“Shut it,” Ellie said. “All the scholarships in the world can’t be a father to Gregory.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton (speaker), Trevor, Gregory
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 327
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34 Quotes

How long would it take for the earth to heal? When would the sap on the metal-scarred tree harden into amber? It seemed odd that an act so violent and cruel could leave gemstones in its wake.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 339
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Elatsoe LitChart as a printable PDF.
Elatsoe PDF

Dr. Abe Allerton Quotes in Elatsoe

The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Abe Allerton or refer to Dr. Abe Allerton. 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:
Family and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Hopefully, it happened through a police investigation that led to an arrest that resulted in a successful trial by jury and a murder conviction. However, the justice system was imperfect. Many crimes remained unsolved, especially violence against Natives. Plus, Trevor’s death was so strange, magic might have been involved. That was a potential death blow against justice. Magic, as energy from another realm, corrupted and altered the fabric of reality. The defense for Abe Allerton could argue that any trace of magic at the crime scene negated his chance for a fair trial, since there was no way to trust the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Nine times out of ten, that argument worked for people with million-dollar lawyers. Strangely, it rarely worked for anyone else.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

The lawn was speckled by white polka-dots, the heads of round mushrooms. Didn’t mushrooms usually sprout in moist environments? Exactly how much water did Dr. Allerton waste on his grass every day?

Related Characters: Ellie, Dad, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“Here,” Lenore said, handing Ellie a velvet-wrapped parcel. “He wanted you to have this.”

Gingerly, Ellie unwrapped Trevor’s Swiss Army knife. “He used to carry this during hikes,” she said. “Every hike. Even little ones in Grandma’s yard. Just in case.” She held it carefully. “I’ll always carry it, too.”

“That’s Trevor,” Lenore said. “Prepared for just about anything. It didn’t help him in the end.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Swiss Army Knife
Page Number: 90-91
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“The two made off with four hundred dollars, Marlboros, and ten bags of dried meat. I remember a news reporter saying, ‘They killed a man for just four hundred dollars.’ And I thought that the word ‘just’ was completely unnecessary. No amount of money would make the crime less heinous. I don’t care if there was four billion dollars in that register, Ellie.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

Despite all of the warnings Ellie had heard her whole life, the fact remained: waking up a human ghost was like getting struck by lightning. Extremely unlikely but dangerous enough that precautions had to be respected. When it came to attracting electricity during a thunderstorm, there were ways to improve the odds. Fly an aluminum kite. Stand under a tall tree. Wave a metal pole at the tumultuous clouds. Likewise, if somebody wanted to wake up a ghost, they could repeat the deceased’s name, disturb their burial ground, or otherwise meddle with the dead person’s body, possessions, home, or family.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton, Lenore
Page Number: 161
Explanation and Analysis:

“Nathaniel Grace learned a lesson from the fire. He made friends with other Pilgrims by hurting the people who frightened them more than he did.”

Page five continued, with a picture of a boxy building, “Nathaniel Grace made a hospital with the money he earned. He saved many lives.”

[...]

The final page displayed an anatomically accurate drawing of a leech. It belonged in a biology textbook, not a historical biography. Brett concluded: “Nathaniel Grace is a great American because he saved the lives of many people like presidents and war heroes. Without him, the country would not be the same and there would be no Willowbee. He founded the town to be a good home.”

Related Characters: Brett Allerton (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton, Nathaniel Grace
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 163
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

“Be patient. Have faith.” Vivian put her arms around Lenore and Ellie and pulled them into a hug.

“Faith in what?” Lenore asked, and she sounded genuinely curious and a little bit spiteful. “Justice?”

“Family,” Vivian said. “It’s all we’ve ever had.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 240-241
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“He’s just one man.” Trevor leaned forward, rooted to the grave. “There are millions more who will continue to treat our family and land like garbage. Think of them like pests.”

“Pests...”

“Termites in your house. Locusts in your field. It doesn’t make any difference if you crush just one insect. The swarm will devour your home.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 254-255
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

Ellie always reasoned that Six-Great lived in a more violent era, one that transformed pacifists into warriors. Six-Great didn’t fight because she enjoyed it; she had to protect her family and friends from genocide.

There were still people to protect. That, Ellie now realized, would never change.

Related Characters: Ellie, Kirby, Jay, Dr. Abe Allerton, Six-Great, Al
Page Number: 285
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

“Everything I do tonight will be for him. For justice.” The exorcist corpse’s head flopped to one side, as if trying to study Ellie with its cloudy eyes. “He loved you,” the emissary said. “He loved all his family.”

“I love Trevor,” she said. “Always will.”

“Someday, you’ll be reunited,” the emissary promised. “If you want that day to come sooner rather than later, interfere with my vengeance.”

“Vengeance?” she wondered. “Didn’t you say ‘justice’ a moment ago?”

“In this case, they’re the same.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Trevor (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 296
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

“I am a neutral force,” Dr. Allerton said. “My healing balances my harm. Ellie, I tried to help you and your family. Did you know that I collected scholarship money for Trevor’s child? Well? Enough to pay for college! For grad school! You just wouldn’t let it go. Everything is a mess now.”

“Shut it,” Ellie said. “All the scholarships in the world can’t be a father to Gregory.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Dr. Abe Allerton (speaker), Trevor, Gregory
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 327
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34 Quotes

How long would it take for the earth to heal? When would the sap on the metal-scarred tree harden into amber? It seemed odd that an act so violent and cruel could leave gemstones in its wake.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 339
Explanation and Analysis: