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Edith McAllister (Levi and Charlotte’s Mother)
Thurston Hough is the coffin expert Levi asks for help building Charlotte’s coffin. Thurston is antisocial, violent, and suspicious, all qualities which make him a particularly unpopular addition to Avoca, the small town he relocates to to evade the government’s tax agents. His violence and misanthropy come through in his letters to Levi, but his desperation for money proves more powerful than his desire to be left alone, as is evident when he accepts the task of building Charlotte’s coffin upon Levi’s promise of a large amount of cash. Thurston demonstrates how greed and self-obsession can harm the natural environment when he traps, kills, and skins the Esk God (who takes the form of a water rat). Though the killing invites the wrath of the river creatures who were loyal to the Esk God, Thurston remains oblivious to the fact that his actions interfered with the river’s delicate ecology. He dies with the pelt in his hand, which reinforces the futility of attempting to claim a piece of nature as one’s own.
Thurston Hough Quotes in Flames
The Flames quotes below are all either spoken by Thurston Hough or refer to Thurston Hough. 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:
).
Fur
Quotes
I have long found that the most appropriate material for those who have died young is wood taken from the many-hued whorls of an old snowgum. Its hard, cold-to-the-touch timber does not rot or warp or even fade. Instead it fossilises, and so too does the body it contains. The flesh of the dead turns as hard and unyielding as the stony coffin, and cannot be altered by any natural means.
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So come: collect your half-made coffin. I shall not charge you for it, even though I have laboured over its creation. I no longer need the money—the taxman has no chance of getting to me while these creatures plague my doorstep. Come take the flesh-stoning panels of freshly carved snowgum. But the pelt stays with me, moron boy. The only grave it shall adorn is my own.
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Wood
Quotes
In a mind like his, grand acts will always trump honest words. There was a chance he’d understand this—a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless—the moment he saw the coffin. An epiphany might have dawned upon him: What am I doing? Is she even worried about her eventual death? What if she just needs someone to talk to? What if she just needs time? But this chance was destroyed the moment Levi picked the golden-brown pelt from Hough’s nibbled fingers. Now, with his fingers tousling the fur, with the uncommon warmth spreading from his fingers to his scalp, he has never been more sure of himself.
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Thurston Hough Quotes in Flames
The Flames quotes below are all either spoken by Thurston Hough or refer to Thurston Hough. 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:
).
Fur
Quotes
I have long found that the most appropriate material for those who have died young is wood taken from the many-hued whorls of an old snowgum. Its hard, cold-to-the-touch timber does not rot or warp or even fade. Instead it fossilises, and so too does the body it contains. The flesh of the dead turns as hard and unyielding as the stony coffin, and cannot be altered by any natural means.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
So come: collect your half-made coffin. I shall not charge you for it, even though I have laboured over its creation. I no longer need the money—the taxman has no chance of getting to me while these creatures plague my doorstep. Come take the flesh-stoning panels of freshly carved snowgum. But the pelt stays with me, moron boy. The only grave it shall adorn is my own.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Wood
Quotes
In a mind like his, grand acts will always trump honest words. There was a chance he’d understand this—a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless—the moment he saw the coffin. An epiphany might have dawned upon him: What am I doing? Is she even worried about her eventual death? What if she just needs someone to talk to? What if she just needs time? But this chance was destroyed the moment Levi picked the golden-brown pelt from Hough’s nibbled fingers. Now, with his fingers tousling the fur, with the uncommon warmth spreading from his fingers to his scalp, he has never been more sure of himself.
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