The Great Alone

by

Kristin Hannah

Earl Harlan, also known as Mad Earl, is the father of Bo Harlan, Clyde Harlan, and Thelma Schill. Earl writes to Ernt to let him know that Bo bequeathed him some land and a cabin in Alaska. When the Allbrights arrive in Kaneq, Earl treats them like family. However, Leni and Cora dislike how Ernt acts when he is around Earl. Earl is convinced that war is coming to Kaneq, and his paranoid thinking rubs off on Ernt. Earl is also Ernt’s drinking buddy, and although Earl handles his booze just fine, it makes Ernt aggressive. Even though Earl feeds Ernt’s paranoia for a long time, he eventually stops after Thelma tells him they’ve gone too far. Not long afterwards, Earl dies suddenly of a heart attack.

Earl Harlan Quotes in The Great Alone

The The Great Alone quotes below are all either spoken by Earl Harlan or refer to Earl Harlan . 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:
Trauma and Violence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

“Down there,” Mad Earl went on, “Outside, people are standing in line for gas while OPEC laughs all the way to the bank. And you think the good ole USSR forgot about us after Cuba? Think again. We got Negroes calling themselves Black Panthers and raisin’ their fists at us, and illegal immigrants stealing our jobs. So what do people do? They protest. They sit down. They throw bombs at empty post office buildings. They carry signs and march down streets. Well. Not me. I got a plan.”

Related Characters: Earl Harlan (speaker)
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Great Alone PDF

Earl Harlan Quotes in The Great Alone

The The Great Alone quotes below are all either spoken by Earl Harlan or refer to Earl Harlan . 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:
Trauma and Violence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

“Down there,” Mad Earl went on, “Outside, people are standing in line for gas while OPEC laughs all the way to the bank. And you think the good ole USSR forgot about us after Cuba? Think again. We got Negroes calling themselves Black Panthers and raisin’ their fists at us, and illegal immigrants stealing our jobs. So what do people do? They protest. They sit down. They throw bombs at empty post office buildings. They carry signs and march down streets. Well. Not me. I got a plan.”

Related Characters: Earl Harlan (speaker)
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis: