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Marjorie
Allan is Marjorie’s husband and a prospective local political candidate in South London. He feigns ignorance of Brenda Last’s affair when she mentions it to him. After Brenda leaves Tony Last, Allan exercises his diplomatic instincts and tries to act as peacemaker by going to each of them separately, lying to Tony that Brenda wants to reconcile, and likewise lying to Brenda that Tony will grant a divorce to avoid scandal. His ultimate plan with this is unclear beyond the desire to play diplomat, and Brenda justifiably writes him off as an “interfering ass.”
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Allan Character Timeline in A Handful of Dust
The timeline below shows where the character Allan appears in A Handful of Dust. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Hard Cheese on Tony
...grand annual tradition. The weekend before the hunt, Brenda invites Jock, Marjorie, and Marjorie’s husband Allan to Hetton, and Tony enjoys the company. Brenda devotes the whole weekend to Tony, making...
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Chapter 4: English Gothic—II
...frequenting Brown’s club instead. Friends try unsuccessfully to comfort Tony and play peacemaker. Marjorie and Allan attempt to convince him that this is only a phase and that Brenda will soon...
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Chapter 5: In Search of a City
...to get elected into Brown’s social club, an effort for which he was relying on Allan and Reggie’s endorsement and support. He responds by displaying coldness to Brenda, whose own social...
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...procured. She breaks down crying about all her friends abandoning her. John Beaver, Jock, Marjorie, Allan, Polly Cockpurse, even Jenny Abdul Akbar: all of them are off enjoying varied and fabulous...
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