SETTINGS
WAR
At the start of the novel we are told about one destroyer sailing down the
loch.
“A destroyer had steamed seawards”
Even though we are introduced to war at the beginning of the book there is a
limited reference to it in the book.
Calum and Neil are in the forest because the forests are going to be
chopped down so the cones are needed to keep the forests alive in
generations to come.
Book set in 2nd World War. WWII is a sense of having to fight something
evil (Nazis trying to take over the world.) In the novel this evil is Duror.
We are always aware of the war as a background to the story.
The forest is a contrast to the war “Garden of Eden”
Because of war there is rationing and so everybody has to have the same
amount of food. There is less of a difference in class.
After the war all of the classes had to become equal. There was no more
differentiation between classes.
“The lower orders are going to be frightfully presumptuous.”
Because of the war LRC has to let the cone gatherers into the wood. It is
made out as if she has accepted them but the reality is that if she had said
no she would have been forced to take them. If war wasn’t on she wouldn’t
have accepted them.
Archie Graham makes an interesting mention of the war. It is really about
Durors own personal war.
“There are men getting medals for less than what we’re going to
face.”
Because of one war there are men in the trenches fighting. All classes have
to stay in the same trenches.
The Doctor is so preoccupied with getting food and wine due to the rationing
that he doesn’t say anything about even though he knows that he is mentally
ill.. The doctor is too greedy.
In the 2nd World War Calum would have been killed by the Nazis because he
was different. They wanted a perfect society.
“So that ordinary humble people could line in peace without being
bullied and enslaved by brutal men with power,”
Because it is a time of rationing people wanted as much food as possible yet
when Neil and Calum visit Lendrick they get more than anyone else but there
is no hard feelings. This shows how Neil & Calum are nice, liked people.
Conscientious objectors were not liked during WW II because they refused
to fight. Yet Neil sees them as people and respects their opinion.
When Mr Tulloch decides to take Neil & Calum off the forest he tells LRC
that it will be 2 conscientious objectors that she will get. Although she
obviously hates them she has no choice but to accept them if she wants Neil
& Calum off the forest estate. Mr Tulloch had conscientious objectors on
their land. At first his wife and workers didn’t like them but then they grew
to like them and understood them. This is what LRC fails to do.
Some of the arguments that LRC comes out with are similar to those of the
Nazis.
After Calums death we are brought full circle to the war again by
“a warship steamed down the loch”
RODERICK
We meet Roderick in Chapter 3.
Roderick is the hope for the future in the novel.
He is a sickly child who is fascinated by the world around him.
Roderick is weak in body – complicated in mind.
He dislikes Duror and recognises something bad in him.
He has greater vision than his mother. She is too busy trying to follow the
rules of social class.
Roderick has a sense of what’s right or wrong at the deer drive.
Roderick pressurises his mum to give the cone gatherers as lift when it is
raining. He wants to apologise to him. If you apologise to them you see them
as equals so Roderick sees Calum and Neil as equals.
When the cone gatherers are in Lendrick they meet LRC and Roderick etc.
Roderick speaks to them. This is important because he is treating them like
people.
Roderick has good in him like LRC’s father.
Even though Roderick is aware of right or wrong at no point does he indicate
that he will give up his power.
Effie warns Roderick off the cone gatherers
Roderick wants to go and see the cone gatherers so he takes a cake as an
act of kindness.
Roderick sees going to see the cone gatherers as a pilgrimage.
There is a contrast between Roderick and the cone gatherers. Duror wants
to destroy the cone gatherers and so destroy himself but Roderick wants to
save himself.
When Roderick gets to the cone gatherers hut Duror is there. Roderick like
Calum is unwilling to go past Duror – he is scared of Duror.
Roderick recognises that Duror is evil/deranged.
He recognises the struggle between good and evil that is always going on. He
also recognises that good does not always win.
Roderick doesn’t make friends with Calum & Neil because Duror was there.
He dumps the cake and leaves with a sense of defeat because he is not
willing to go further even though he has the power to. There is nothing
stopping him doing what he chooses to do.
Roderick is not willing to make a sacrifice at this point because he is scared.
He is not willing to make the step yet. Jenkins is reminding us of how easy it
is not to do enough.
Roderick recognises that LRC is wrong to throw Calum and Neil out of the
beach hut.
Roderick is upset by his mother’s attitude to the cone gatherers.
Roderick looks for Calum and Neil because he wants to apologise. He wants
to be absolved of his sins – religious references.
Roderick shows an interest in the cones etc. and in doing so we are shown
that he has an interest in the cone gatherers.
The author brings up the subject that Roderick doesn’t like climbing trees.
There is an irony in this in the fact that at the end of the book he is up a
tree.
Roderick gets stuck up a tree. We discover that he has been trying to be
like the cone gatherers by picking cones. The only way that Roderick can be
saved is by Calum saving him.
This is an irony.
“waved to them, and shouted in a friendly voice.”
DUROR
Duror represents the evil in the novel.
Duror does things that are evil but he is not actually evil. He manipulates
Lady Runcie Campbell into treating the cone gatherers like dirt.
He makes sure that Calum and Neil have to take part in the deer hunt even
though he knows that Calum won’t be able to handle it.
He suggests that Calum exposes himself and in the end he kills Calum.
Duror is obsessive and he Calum.
He gets his hatred from the fact that he was once married to a young,
pretty woman but after a couple of years of marriage she becomes paralysed
and bed ridden. Because of this she gets fatter and fatter. He loathes his
wife because he feels he has an obligation to stay with her because she is
dependent on him and useless without him. Duror doesn’t want Peggy’s love –
there is nothing physical. In a way he has lost his manhood – never had a
proper life.
He flirts outrageously with Effie, the cook, but he will never leave his wife.
He has a loathing for himself. His dogs love him and show him affection yet
he treats them like dirt. He rejects anything that shows him affection
because it reminds him of his wife.
Duror is a twisted character who needs something to venge his anger on – he
takes it out of Calum.
Duror has no good thoughts for himself.
By destroying Calum he is
destroying Peggy and destroying himself.
Everybody knows that there is something wrong with Duror but no one does
anything.
Duror dislikes the brothers because they are allowed to live in the woods,
which is his domain.
He considers himself to be above the brothers.
Duror has a dislike of anything abnormal or disformed. This is a reflection
of his feelings towards his wife.
The doctor is in a position to recognise that there is something wrong with
Duror but he is too greedy and doesn’t say anything.
The doctor is used to show what has corrupted Duror.
Duror is gradually being destroyed.
Duror becomes “God” in his urge to destroy what he doesn’t like. Duror is an
atheist to a certain extent. He has an odd concept of what God is. God
begins to fit in with what he wants him to be like.
At the beginning of the novel (Ch. 2) Duror just wants Neil and Calum out of
the forest he doesn’t want to kill them.
From the end of Ch. 2 onwards we know that Duror is bent on selfdestruction – even if Calum and Neil leave the forest
Duror sees Calum more as an animal than a person.
Duror perceives that if he has an affair with Mrs Martin it would destroy
her. From Ch 3 on he is willing to destroy himself.
His desire to destroy the cone gatherers is his last grab at the world. He
sees the world as having treated him badly. Wants to destroy the part of
the world he can.
Although he hates the cone gatherers he doesn’t know much about them.
Mrs Martin suggests there is nothing wrong with them but he suggests that
Calum is indecently assaulting young girls.
There is a generalisation that simple people rape/indecently assault people.
A lie that Duror saw causes as much distortion as the truth.
Duror is obsessed with sex because he doesn’t get any.
Mrs Martin is aware that Duror is destroying himself yet she is prepared to
lie for him.
Duror manipulates LRC into seeing Neil and Calum as bad people.
Duror is frightened to climb up the tree. Because cone gatherers are
further up it implies that they are better than Duror even though he is
superior.
Duror is conveying his wish to kill Peggy.
All the workers become aware that there is something wrong with Duror but
they do nothing about it.
Duror in the blood at the deer drive.
When Duror is killing the deer he is really killing Peggy.
Duror is described as being similar to a lunatic e.g. “laughing”. Duror behaves
in a manner which panders to all the prejudices that we have with regard to
the behaviour of lunatics. Jenkins has done this on purpose to make us see
Duror as insane rather than simply evil. Duror needs help, not just
condemnation.
Erchie Graham recognises there is something wild about Duror – he sees
that Duror has become a beast.
Duror has biblical reference of Lucifer. He thinks he is better than
everyone else like Lucifer and he is in a position where LRC(God) backs him
up.
Duror hates that Calums face is beautiful. He hates Calums inner beauty.
This implies that Peggy is not as ugly as Duror perceives her to be.
Impending killing of Calum is like a crucifixion. In destroying Calum he wants
to destroy his sins and seek forgiveness.
The doctor is aware that Duror is mentally ill.
Ch. 9 – Duror is drunk and wants to hurt someone because of this – Duror
also suicidal
Duror sees no future for himself and so has no reason not to destroy
himself.
Duror is rejected out of the pub.
Lady Runcie Campbell becomes aware that there is something wrong with
Duror after she visits Peggy.
Duror is the danger in the wood.
Duror represents more than unwillingness to go past – he represents the
blockage we have when we don’t have courage to face our convictions.
Even though Duror is ill the only explanation LRC can come up with for this is
that he is an unhappy man.
If Neil helped LRC, Calum may not have been killed.
When Erchie Graham says that Duror is on his way to Neil and Calum with a
gun she knows what is about to happen.
Duror kills himself after killing Calum. He has destroyed his madness and
himself.
THE CONE GATHERERS
The story starts by telling us that the story is set in wartime – the
destroyer sailing down the loch.
Page 1. “ A destroyer had steamed seawards, with a sailor singing cheerfully.
More sudden and swifter than hawks, and roaring louder than waterfalls,
aeroplanes had shot down from the sky over the wood, whose autumn colours
they seemed to have copies for camouflage. In the silence that had followed
gunshots had cracked far off in the wood.” Ch 1.
Even though we are introduced to war at the beginning of the book there is a
limited reference to it in the book.
The setting is very important. This tells us that Calum and Neil have to be
gathering cones in the first place because the forests are going to be cut
down. The cones are needed to rebuild forests.
It is the 2nd World War that the book is set in. The book was published in
1955 so it was written in the 50/s. Both the wars are over. The 1st World
War was about empire building but the 2nd World War was about an evil
empire (Nazis) trying to take over the world.
By setting the novel during the 2nd World War we have a sense of having to
fight something that is evil:- Duror represents that evil.
The novel takes place in a small setting but throughout the novel we are
aware of the conflict between good and evil. We are aware of the bigger
sense of the setting – world – the war.
On the first page we become more and more focused on the wood. The only
colour is in the wood – everywhere else is grey.
3 Main Characters
Neil, Calum, Duror
2 other characters without whom the novel wouldn’t take place
Lady Runcie Campbell, Roderick
The other characters have an effect on the understanding of the novel.
It is often argued that Calum represents a Christ figure. It is not that
straight forward. We can see Calum as a Christ figure because he is
innocent, he is at one with nature. He is “crucified” for what he is. Calum is
used to show us that we don’t always look at things in the right way. He is
used to show Durors anger.
It could also be argued that the story is not about Calum and Neil but is
about Duror because he is central to everything that happens in the story.
Is Duror evil?
Duror does things that are evil. He manipulates Lady Runcie Campbell into
treating the core gathers like dirt. He makes sure that Calum and Neil have
to take part in the Deer hunt even though he knows that Calum won’t be able
to handle it.
He suggests that Calum exposes himself and he ultimately kills Calum.
However, we have to look at why Duror is like he is. There is a big
difference between someone who is inherently evil and someone who does
evil things. Duror is obsessive and he has an absolute hatred of Calum.
Where does this hatred come from? He has married a woman who was
young, pretty etc. but after a couple of years she becomes paralysed and
bed ridden and so she becomes fatter and fatter. He has to deal with his
mother in law who blames him for here daughter’s problems. He loathes his
wife but he can’t leave her because he feels an obligation to stay with her
because she is dependent on him and useless without him. He is stuck with a
person who feeds off him – he is absolutely responsible for her – yet she
gives nothing back. He doesn’t want her love – there is nothing physical. In
a way he has lost his manhood – he has never had a proper life.
Duror flirts outrageously with Effie, the cook, but he will never leave his
wife.
He has a loathing for himself. His dogs love him and show him affection but
he treats them like dirt. He rejects anything which shows him affection
because it reminds him of his wife. Duror is a twisted character who needs
something to venge his anger on – he takes it out on the hunchback – Calum.
His hatred of Calum is an outside reflection of the hatred he has for
himself. There is no sign that Duror has any good thoughts for himself. In
destroying Calum he seeks to destroy himself.
He is not really evil.
Lady Runcie Campbell & others
Everybody is aware that there is a problem with Duror. Mr Tulloch could
have withdrawn Neil and Calum and replaced them with two others but he
chose not to. This is not because of a lack of comparison but is a lack of
foresight. He does not have much guilt in the final conclusion.
The doctor knows there is something seriously wrong with Duror. The
doctor could have done or said something but he is trapped by professional
rules so anything that he is told is in confidence.
Lady Runcie Campbell is Christian and is absolutely sure in her Christianity.
She believes in doing good, she believes in all the theories of Christianity up
to one point. She lets Neil and Calum down because she believes absolutely
in the theory of class order. She feels that working class people do not
deserve to be treated the same as upper class people. She believes anything
that Duror says about them because she does not see them as people. She
does things for charity – helps the poor and needy – but she refuses to be
near the kind of people she supposedly helps. She refuses to give Neil and
Calum a lift home in the rain etc. She listens to Duror when he tells her to
keep them in a hut in the wood rather than the beach house where there is
heat etc. She has a warped sense of right and wrong – she believes in social
class.
Robin Jenkins wants us to come to the conclusion as to how much the class
system has affected the outcome of the novel.
Robin Jenkins often writes novels that are based around the sense of class
and the class system.
Main Points
Setting scene: The setting of wildlife and colour is a contrast to the war and
the destroyer. The outside world is drab, grey and unpleasant. The forest
is nice and pleasant. It is a “Garden of Eden” – an oasis surrounded by
darkness. The wood is full of living things yet the world is being destroyed.
This contrast represents the conflict between Calum/Neil and Duror. Duror
is the evil entering the Garden of Eden.
Introduced to main characters
Neil:- He is bitter. We don’t know much about him. He has a grudge against
the great house (the Runcie Campbells) because they are stuck in a little
hut. There is also the social class. He is poor and she is rich. The social
class is well defined – the rich are very rich and the poor are very poor.
Neil’s resentment is a socialist resentment. He is working so hard for
nothing but she does nothing and is very rich. Yet she sees herself as
superior.
Calum:- Calum has a gentle empathy with the natural world around him. He
loves nature and is content. He is too simple to realise how horrible his life
is –“ignorance is bliss”. It would be false to say that he is a Christ figure
because Christ would have known what was going on – Calum is too simple to
realise what’s going on.
John Duror:- He dislikes the brothers because they are allowed to live in
his woods – his domain. He considers himself to be above the brothers, yet
he is below Lady Runcie Campbell. However, he keeps his place. Duror has a
dislike of anything abnormal or disformed. This is a reflection of his
feelings towards his wife. He is very obsessive.
Lady Runcie Campbell:- She treats the cone gatherers with sympathy, as if
they are a charity. She feels sorry for them as long as they fit in with what
she thinks they should be like. She sees Neil and Calum as charity figures –
people to feel sorry for – she doesn’t imagine how they feel. Later in the
novel Roderick begins to see things from Neil’s view. Lady Runcie Campbell
can’t do this.
Theme:- There is a theme of violence and evil. The war is violent and Duror
is seen as violent and evil. There is an evil within Duror.
Prejudices in Society:- In the society there are prejudices against the
handicapped - against people unlike themselves.
Chapter 2
In this chapter the Doctor meets Duror. The doctor is in a position to
recognise that there is a problem with Duror. However his main problem is
whether or not he can get some venison. The Doctor is quite a selfish man –
he is surprised that most of the venison goes to hospitals – he thought it
would be eaten in the great house. – He wants some venison himself.
p. 16 “Peggy was Duror’s wife: for the past twenty years she had lain in bed
and grown monstrously obese; her legs were paralysed.”
This is an important quotation because it shows that his wife has become a
monster.
p. 17 is an indication that there is a problem and why Duror is the way he
is. The doctor is used to show what has corrupted Duror.
When Duror goes home we meet Peggy’s mother. We are shown Duror’s
hatred of what Peggy has become. She is something repulsive, something
deformed. This is a link with Durors hatred of Calum. Duror is not evil he is
just being gradually destroyed.
Reference to Stalingrad :-Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles of
the Second World War. It lasted for months. This is an indication of the
mess that Duror is in – how he feels. He is about to erupt and when he does
erupt no one will be left unscathed.
p. 23:- We are told that Peggy is a punishment from God.
Duror becomes “God” in his urge to destroy what he doesn’t like – Calum. He
is in fact killing Peggy – he is killing the turmoil inside him.
Duror is to a certain extent an atheist. He has an odd concept of what God
is. God begins to fit in with what he wants God to be – he is obsessive.
By the end of the chapter he has worked out that if he has a deer drive
Calum will be hurt by seeing a deer being killed.
p. 27:- We are shown his desire to destroy. At this point he only wants rid
of Neil and Calum – to rid himself of Calum. There is no physical need to
hurt them. He is not entirely evil.
p. 29:- This is a dramatic irony. From that point on we know this is
something wrong. By the end of the book we know it is too late – he is bent
on self-destruction – even if Calum and Neil leave the forest.
Chapter 3
The most important thing in this chapter is the introduction of Roderick.
Roderick is the hope for the future even though this is not entirely clear at
this point. He is a sickly child. He is fascinated by the world around him –
he wants to learn. However he is different when we first meet him because
his uncle is there on leave. Sheila (his sister) is there. She is beautiful,
strong like a lady i.e. she is like her mother. However, Roderick is weak in
body and complicated in mind. Roderick dislikes Duror because he recognises
something bad in Duror. He has a far greater vision than his mother. His
mother, and sister, are too busy trying to follow the rules of social class.
p. 33 “It’s a funny thing, Duror, we moan about the vast amount of killing
going on in the world and here I am thirsting for more.”
Duror thinks it is alright to kill Calum but not to kill a ‘normal’ person. This
has an effect on the way that Duror sees Calum. He doesn’t see Calum as a
real person – he sees him more as an animal.
We discover that Mrs Morton (Effie) likes Duror and that there is a
flirtatious relationship between the two. However Mrs Morton thinks that it
will go further and Duror has no intention of leaving his marriage. This is
part of what makes him like he is. If he were to leave his wife he might
become less dangerous.
p. 37 “He wondered if he could risk kissing or embracing her. Were her
scruples sufficiently annulled by desire for revenge, or by lust, or even by
genuine affection for him? To his own destruction, and the cone gatherers’,
ought he to add hers?”
Duror perceives that should he have an affair with Mrs Morton it would
destroy her. From now on he is aware that he is willing to destroy himself.
His desire to destroy the cone gatherers is his last grab at the world. He
has a desire to be remembered –to not be the last. He sees the world as
having treated him badly. He wants to destroy the part of the world that he
can.
p. 38:- On the page Duror tries to find out information about the cone
gatherers. Although he hates the men – he doesn’t know much about them.
Mrs Morton suggests that there is nothing wrong with them, however, he is
determined that there is something wrong with them. He suggests that
Calum is indecently assaulting young girls. There is a generalisation that
simple people rape/indecently assault people. A lie that Duror saw causes as
much distortion as the truth. Duror is obsessed with sex because he doesn’t
get any. It is really his sexual fantasy. There is no indication that Calum is
that way inclined in the slightest.
p. 40 “You’re in danger too, John, she whispered of being destroyed
completely. I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen, if there was anything
I could do to stop it.”
Mrs Morton is aware that Duror is destroying himself. She is prepared to
lie for him. The theme throughout the book is that people are aware that
Duror is destroying himself. We are also told that Duror is aware he is
destroying himself by:p. 40 “I do need help, Effie.”
Chapter 4
In this chapter we meet Lady Runcie Campbell and we get information about
her and her attitudes. She has grown up among the ruling class so she is
used to riches.
p. 41 “Her father the judge had bequeathed to her a passion for justice,
profound and intelligent, and a determination to see right done, even at the
expense of rank or pride”.
This sums up the fact that she has the life of the ruling class. This shows
that she has Christian beliefs but she doesn’t want to give up her privileges.
She is happy to give charity but she doesn’t believe in equality.
p. 41 “Her husband Sir Colin was orthodox, instinctively preferring the way
of a world that for many generations had allowed his family to enjoy position
and wealth.”
p. 41 “She would have given the cone-gatherers the use of the beach hut, if
Duror had not dissuaded her; and she had not forgotten to ask him
afterwards what their hut was like. He had had to lie.”
Despite Lady Runcie Campbell originally going to let the cone gatherers stay
in the beach hut she changes her mind because of Duror. However, later in
the book when she finds them there she goes mad.
p. 42 “Obscene gesture” – Duror gets a sexual kick out of implicating people
in his crimes.
Lady Runcie Campbell asks Mr Tulloch if Neil and Calum can be used in the
deer drive due to the lack of workers (estate) due to the war. They need
extra help for the drive. By doing this she puts Tulloch in a difficult
position because she is only allowing the cone gatherers to work in the woods
as a favour. She feels that it is a privilege that she has allowed the cone
gatherers in the wood. She feels this is asking a lot of her. If Mr Tulloch
refuses to let her use the cone gatherers then she could turn around and
tell him to take his men around.
When Mr Tulloch tells Lady Runcie Campbell that Calum has a love of nature
etc. she dismisses it as childishness. After all he is a man and this sort of
thing shouldn’t upset him. Her attitude towards lesser people is that they
shouldn’t have feeling. Lady Runcie Campbell just wants her deer drive.
There is a paradox in Lady Runcie Campbell’s life. Her upbringing means that
she doesn’t see that things aren’t always as they seem.
Lady Runcie Campbell then reconsiders using Calum but she is easily
manipulated by Duror. He wants her to see Calum as he sees Calum, except
he isn’t seeing Calum, he is seeing his own monsters.
p. 42 “She was so slim, golden-haired, and vital, that her solicitude for
Peggy gripped him like a fierce cramp in his belly.”
Duror has a lust for Lady Runcie Campbell himself. She is everything Peggy
isn’t.
p. 42 “as gawky as she was beautiful, as glum as she was gay, and as matter
of fact as she was compassionate.” There is a frustration in Duror that he
can have Mrs Morton or Peggy but he doesn’t want them. He wants Lady
Runcie Campbell but he can’t have her.
p. 50 “In that case, Duror ‘she cried’ they’ll just have to come. We cannot
have them dictating to us in every way.”
Lady Runcie Campbell is saying that she cannot be dictated to by the cone
gatherers. They are lesser than her so she has a right to tell them what to
do. She has to have her deer drive.
CHAPTER 5
In this chapter we are given more information about Neil and his perception
of the way that things are.
p. 52 “He sang it in Gaelic, although his knowledge of that ancestral
language was grown meagre and vague.”
This is an indication of Neil’s background. This book is set in a time when
there was a real drive to get rid of Gaelic because it was seen as an
improper language. This shows us that Neil has come from a normal working
class background. He is aware of Durors hatred and the humiliation of the
hut.
p. 52
“Another hindrance had been the constant sight of the mansion
house chimneys, reminding him of their hut, which to him remained a symbol
of humiliation.”
p. 52 “She was rich and high in rank, but she was also generous and just;
and her son, the thin boy in the red cap, had waved to them and shouted in a
friendly voice.”
For Neil to have any sort of life at all he has to be humble and take what he
is given even though he doesn’t get much. If he fights against the rich they
will take away what they give him.
He is especially worried for his brother – what will happen to him if Neil
dies. For Neil is not healthy. He has rheumatism yet he works in damp
conditions. He is scared that he might fall out of a tree and get tetanus etc.
Neil has a great sense of responsibility for his little brother – he doesn’t
want Calum to go into a home.
Neil and Calum go into town. They are friendly with the people in town. The
people in town like them.
p. 54 “He did not wonder, as Neil sometimes did, whether the cones he was
gathering would be fertile; nor did he see the great trees born from this
seed in his hands being toppled down in fifty years’ time to make ammunition
boxes for that generation’s war.”
This is a bitter comment about war. Neil has a very negative outlook on life,
Calum is positive about everything.
When Duror comes, Calum is frightened – he is terrified of Duror.
p. 57 “They waited, but he did not start to climb again. For three or four
minutes they waited. Still he remained motionless and silent. One of the
dogs barked unhappily.”
Duror starts to climb up the tree but he has to stop because he is
frightened. Even though he has a sense of superiority he is scared to go
further up – and the cone gatherers are right at the top. Duror wants to
destroy his own inadequacies. Initially Neil refuses to go on the deer drive
saying that they are there to collect cones – nothing else.
p. 58
“She telephoned Tulloch. He said you’ve no work for her this
afternoon.”
Here Neil feels betrayed by Mr Tulloch. Jenkins (the author) wants us to
recognise the corruptness of society. Lady Runcie Campbell has enough
power to make Neil and Calum and Mr Tulloch do what she wants them to. It
is not right but it happens. Jenkins is trying to show to us that the class
system is corrupt.
CHAPTER 6
In this chapter we are introduced to some of the more humorous characters
in the novel. eg. Erchie Graham. These characters lighten the context of
the novel. This produces a contrast between Graham and Duror. The author
is wanting to emphasise how messed up Duror is. He is not the way he is
because he works for Lady Runcie Campbell, it is due to other factors.
We are shown that there are things that are positive about deafness,
disabledness etc. Erchie isn’t fit and full of life but he carries on.
Sometimes this is all you can do, it gives a greater humanity to the novel.
The characters are seen as real people – plausible people who can exist. This
helps us realise that this is a possible story.
Duror wakes from a nightmare about his wife. Her legs are described as
being “monstrous slugs” – this gives the idea of how huge and monstrous his
wife has become. There is something horrible about her. In a farming
community slugs are things that should be destroyed and so Duror is
conveying his wish to kill her. He is aware of his wish to destroy his life.
However as soon as his awareness returns and he becomes aware of what is
around him it becomes more painful to live with.
Neil and Calum turn up for the deer drive. Calum is described as an
ape/monkey. This implication is that man only became bad when they came
out of the trees and changed from monkey to man. Therefore Calum is in
someway still innocent. It also gives us an indication of what Calum looks like
– he has poor balance etc. We get a sense of what Calum is like when moving,
he has a greater ability in the trees.
Pg. 65 “Shut your mouths, ‘snarled Graham’. The man’s working for his
keep.”
This is a statement by Erchie that is a recognition that Calum is another man
even though he is deformed. He should be respected as a working man.
There is obviously something wrong with Duror. His speech is slurred etc.
p. 67
“His subordinates were surprised. These vague yet eager mumbles
contrasted with his usual cool instructions: just as his bleary anxious
unshaven visage was so unlike his customary smooth inscrutability. They
thought he must be ill; but none cared to ask.”
There is awareness that something is wrong with Duror but they do nothing
about it.
p. 67 “You’d think, in a sensible world, nobody would allow him another
chance for murder. Well I’m warning you that he’s younger, at the far end,
waiting, with a gun and an itching finger, to let fly at any living thing, deer or
man, that bursts out of the wood. There are men getting medals for far less
than what we’re going to face.”
This is an interesting mention of the war by Erchie. It is really about
Durors own personal war. He suggests that war is not very nice and that it is
slaughter and a way to kill each other.
The deer drive is an example of different peoples’ personalities. eg. Calum is
horrified but Duror wallows in the blood, Lady Runcie Campbell shows
snobbery and Roderick has a sense of what’s right and wrong. Roderick is
the hope for the future.
Calum runs with the deer as if he is one. He is enthalpy with the animals
because in a way he is closer to the animals than he is to humans. This is
contrasted with Durors behaviour – he projects his own hatred onto the
deer. Although he hates Calum he hates Peggy more because of what she
has done to him. Peggy causes all his self-hatred. His wife is a physical
representation of the pain he feels. It seems as if Duror is insane:- when he
is killing the deer he is really killing Peggy.
People think that Duror is drunk due to his appearance – he looks similar to
what we would describe as a lunatic eg. “laughing”. Duror shows all the
prejudices that we have to lunatics. Jenkins has done this on purpose to
make us see Duror as insane. Jenkins wants us to see that Duror is not
straight evil but there is something wrong with him.
Erchie Graham
recognises this because he is a shrewd person and he sees that Duror has
become a beast.
Duror has a biblical reference as Lucifer. Duror thinks that he is better
than everyone else like Lucifer. He is in a position that Lady Runcie Campbell
(God) backs him up. He is in a way Lucifer (Chief angel). In a way we have a
biblical allusion. Erchie Graham recognises what Duror has become before
anyone else.
p. 73 “For many years his life had been stunted, misshapen, obscene, and
hideous; and this misbegotten creature was its personification.”
Calum is a physical embodiment of how Duror sees his life. This wouldn’t
have been true if the face had been ugly. Duror hates that Calum’s face is
beautiful. It is not in keeping with the rest of his body, Duror hates Calum’s
inner beauty. This implies that Peggy is not as ugly as he perceives her to be
– Duror only wants to see what is horrible. Calum has to be hurt as well so
that his (Durors) life can be destroyed completely. He has to kill the
physical embodiment of his life before he kills himself.
p. 78
“His going therefore must be a destruction, an agony, a crucifixion.”
The impending killing of Calum by Duror is in a way a crucifixion. By
destroying Calum he wants to destroy all his sins and so seek forgiveness.
This is like Christ who was crucified for the sins of everyone else. Lady
Runcie Campbell wants the cone gatherers out of the wood because she is
embarrassed by the fiasco. She can’t admit that she has done wrong. Her
view of herself is that she cannot be wrong. Her superiority means that she
can’t be wrong. She is more worried about the embarrassment than Calum so
she has a limited Christianity. She forced Calum into the deer drive –
Roderick reminds her of this but she doesn’t want to see anything unpleasant
about herself or others.
Tulloch knows the class ‘rules’ – he doesn’t argue with superior people. For
him to say that they’ve not done anything wrong is shocking to her – he is
speaking back to a superior.
p. 77/78 “I find no fault in them ‘She gasped’, and looked sharply at him,
wondering whether his words were a deliberate quotation aimed against her
faith, or whether their resemblance to Pilots was fortuitous”.
Pilot used these words ‘I find no fault in them’ when he gave the order for
Christ to be crucified. However Pilot didn’t really want to kill Christ he just
went along with things. This is similar to the position with Calum. The
condemnation of Calum is a direct result of what someone else wants her to
do. She has to do it because of her position etc. She hasn’t grasped the
fact that what she is doing is immoral.
Lady Runcie Campbell is not bad but she is only as good as she makes herself
out to be – she surrenders in the end. There is an irony in the fact that he
is insisting that Calum and Neil stay because he has given Duror the chance
to destroy Calum. Tulloch accidentally has a hand in Calum’s destruction.
CHAPTER 7
At the time of the war it was standard practice to work Saturday mornings.
p. 81 “You can’t even have an accident and fall from this tree. Do you ken
why? Because the lady would get to hear about it, and she’d be annoyed;
she’d be annoyed because you’d broken your neck and spilled your blood on
her land.”
Neil has a bitterness towards the rich because he has had a hard life.
There is a recognition of Lady Runcie Campbell’s attitude. Her wealth seems
to give the indication that everything has to be perfect. She doesn’t face up
to the realities of other people’s lives. Neil is taking out his frustrations by
saying that he is going to get drunk. He won’t really because he is not that
sort of man. Neil has had to give up his opportunities to look after Calum
because Calum can’t survive on his own. He doesn’t resent this fact but it is
likely to hurt him.
p. 82 “He had read often in the newspapers and had heard on the wireless
that the war was being fought so that ordinary humble people could live in
peace without being bullied and enslaved by brutal men with power; but,
livings as he did in a lonely, unimportant part of the world, he had never
consciously seen himself or Calum as in any way involved.”
There is an irony in this because in a way he is controlled (bullied). Neil
recognises the problem that in a way we are all enslaved by the amount of
money we have, class etc. People are not looked at by what they are but by
how much they have. In the 2nd World War Calum would have been killed in
the Nazi shed won. They wanted a perfect society.
p. 82 “Yet, without his being aware of it……….on his brother.”
This shows us why Neil is so bitter. Society before the war was that people
worked as servants and people even moderately well off would have
servants. The 2nd World War changed all this.
Neil is an embodiment in the changes of society. He can’t go back to the way
things were.
p. 82 “Then………sighs”
This shows how much Calum loved animals.
p. 83
“Stripped………..hut.”
This is the cone gatherers only water supply. They have to wash outside –
even in winter.
The trip into Lendrick is a big event for Calum and Neil. The people welcome
them into the town.
p. 85 “Oh………is it?”
This is significant . The police represent law and order. The fact that the
policeman is speaking to them means that they are good people and that
what Duror says about them is wrong.
p. 86 “In the grocer’s shop……….envy.”
It is wartime and there are rations. Calum and Neil are getting things that
the other people show no animosity. There is a list of other things as well.
Jenkins has shown us all these things for a purpose. It shows the contrast
between the way the people at the estate treat Calum and Neil and the way
the people in Lendrick treat them. In a way this makes the people of the
village more superior than the people at the estate. We discover that Neil
wanted to go to sea but he couldn’t because of Calum.
Neil sees the conscientious objectors as people while other people treat
them badly. People are nice to/give things to Calum because he is like a
Christ like figure – he is a Christian person. Calum gets away with things, he
sees all people as human beings.
Jenkins wants to show us that you should treat people like people and not
treat them differently due to poorness, disability etc.
p. 89 “Neil found………..under his arm.”
Neil actually finds that he feels no animosity to the Runcie Campbells.
p. 89 “Calum, on the contrary………the other way.”
This is showing us how Calum feels. He is sensitive to the way that he is
treated - by Duror especially.
p. 90 This page is significant because Roderick actually speaks to the cone
gatherers. He is treating them like people.
Ironically Neil’s dignity crumbles when he speaks, this is a reflection of what
he is “trained” to do Lady Runcie Campbell is “trained” to believe in what she
does. Neil is “trained” to act humble etc. We are being shown that to
change society is a hard thing to do.
CHAPTER 8
In this chapter Lady Runcie Campbell’s attitude to Calum and Neil is shown
by the fact that she doesn’t give them a lift home. She will give Duror a lift
home but Calum and Neil are too low a class. She understands what it is like
to be sickly – because of Roderick – yet she still makes Neil who gets ill
easily walk home. It is pure snobbery that stops her giving them a lift. She
calls herself Christian yet when she gets a chance to be Christian she’s not
We are shown that Roderick has a decency in him because he pressurises his
mother to give them a lift – he wants to apologise to them. If you apologise
to someone you see them as equals therefore Roderick sees Calum and Neil
as equals. Lady Runcie Campbell thinks that Roderick’s’ attitude to this is
absurd. This shows her attitude to Calum and Neil.
Duror has been to see the doctor. The doctor is clear that Duror is in
physical health, however, he is also very aware that mentally, Duror is not in
good condition. He is clear that Duror is cracking up but he does nothing
about it.
We find out why Neil wants to look after Calum. Their mother killed herself
after Calum’s birth because she couldn’t face looking after him.
Duror continues to lie to the doctor about Calum. The doctor knows fine well
that he is lying about the abominations but the most important thing to him
is that he gets his venison so he doesn’t do anything to help Duror. Prior to
1948 there was no NHS so patients paid doctors. The wealthier you were
the more likely you were to get proper medical care.
Neil and Calum were on the doctors’ panel but the doctor had never had to
deal with them – even though Neil becomes ill easily.
CHAPTER 9
When Duror leaves the doctors surgery he has been drinking whisky.
Whisky was literally unavailable during the war but the doctor was able to
get things he shouldn’t be able to. Duror wants to hurt someone because he
is drunk.
At the beginning of Chapter 9 Duror is not only drunk and violent but he is
suicidal. Because he is drunk he is less inhibited. Duror is aware of his own
circumstances – he thinks about a comedy film and relates it to his own
circumstances.
p. 105 “Peggy was fat enough.”
Peggy is a physical embodiment of how Duror feels – how large his feelings
are.
When he goes into the bar he is looking for a fight – he wants to hurt
someone.
p. 105 “To feel his fist ………… compensation”
This shows his sense of self- destruction – it is an indication of what is
about to come. There is the indication that he is going to hurt someone – he
doesn’t care about the consequences due to his emotional state – he is
immoral (without morality).
We then get a reference that the people in the pub know about Peggy. The
people in the pub have something to look forward to – Duror sees no future
for himself and so has no reason not to destroy himself. The cone gatherers
are in the pub. Calum is upset at seeing Duror and Duror tries to ignore
them.
Some English soldiers enter. Jenkins is wanting to show us that they are
different people who are out of place in the community. There is an
ignorance of different places. The small community has a sense of right and
wrong. However one soldier tells a joke about a monkey – the locals, who
know about Calum, take it to be about Calum. The soldier recognises
immediately why Calum might be offended by it. There is a contrast
between Duror who has no reason to hate Calum and the soldier who has no
reason but he has human humanity to be sorry for the joke. He shows this
humanity. The soldiers feel uncomfortable so in a way they are thrown out.
There is a sense of punishment from God. There is a mention of an old
fisherman – this implies wisdom. The fisherman is in a way a symbol of
Christianity – it is a sign that we should show humanity and find something
else to talk about.
At the end of the chapter Duror puts down his glass and leaves – he is the
one being rejected.
CHAPTER 10
It is Sunday, the Sabbath day. It is a day for going to church, for being
religious. It is 1940 so going to church is standard practice.
It was an
important day. In the rural community the church had a greater influence
than in cities.
Lady Runcie Campbell is carrying out her Christian duty by going to see
Peggy. This is expected of her – not necessarily what she wants to do but it
is her duty. She thinks that Peggy is under the jurisdiction of God and she
admires Duror for looking after her.
This sums up her attitude to
Christianity – she does her duties. She admires Duror for putting up with
Peggy.
Lady
Runcie
Campbell
doesn’t
see
what’s
going
on,
the
destructiveness. It is the belief of the rich that it is God’s will if you are
rich/poor and since it is God’s will you shouldn’t be jealous. This is an easy
way to opt out of your responsibility for the poor.
Lady Runcie Campbell is being made to face up to the fact that she is
treating people differently when she should be treating them equally – if
she’s Christian.
p. 111 “To obey Christ ……..argument.”
Even she realises that it is not a legitimate argument. Despite the fact that
Lady Runcie Campbell is privileged/Christian etc. we can’t say that she is
different – Jenkins wants to show us that we treat people differently.
Jenkins wants us to understand her dilemma.
We are asking her to give up her privilege. She is aware of how false her
argument is because she can see her father through Roderick. Even though
her father had great ideas, he never gave up his position of power. We are
shown that Roderick is aware of right and wrong but at no point are we given
an indication that he will give up his power.
When Lady Runcie Campbell comes back from Peggy she is troubled, upset –
she is aware that there is something wrong with Duror.
Effie stays loyal to Duror even though she knows Duror is insane. The
problem is that people are staying loyal to someone who is showing signs of
insanity. Roderick is warned off the cone gatherers by Effie. He wants to
see the cone gatherers – he takes the cake as an act of kindness. Roderick
sees going to see the cone gatherers as a pilgrimage.
p. 117 “Low-hanging branches were evil birds swooping with talons ready to
rip his face and pluck out his eyes.”
This is a reminder of the dream that Duror had about his wife getting
pecked with beaks – it reminds us that there is danger in the woods. That
danger is Duror. There is a contrast between Duror and Roderick. Duror
wants to destroy the cone gatherers and so destroy himself. Roderick wants
to save them to save himself. When Roderick gets to the cone gatherers
hut Duror is there. Roderick, like Calum is unwilling to go past Duror – he is
scared of Duror.
Roderick recognises that Duror is “evil”/deranged.
He recognises the
struggle between good and evil, which is always going on. He recognises that
good does not always win. Duror’s presence at the hut means that Roderick
doesn’t make friends with Calum and Neil. He dumps the cake and leaves
with a sense of defeat. He is defeated because he is not willing to go
further even though he has the power to. Nothing stopping him doing what
he chooses to do. He could have chosen to go past but he doesn’t. Duror
represents something more than unwillingness to go past – he represents the
blockage we have when we don’t have courage to face our convictions.
Roderick is not willing to make a sacrifice at this point. He is scared – he is
partly responsible for what happens at the end. He is not willing to make the
step yet. This is true for all of us. Jenkins is reminding us how easy it is not
to do enough.
CHAPTER 11
This Chapter starts with a storm approaching. This has two purposes a
literal and a figurative. It has an important effect on what happens.
Storms are violent so the storm is a metaphor for violence. It is an
indication of what’s about to happen with Duror. The storm is needed for
the plot –without the storm the next chapters wouldn’t have happened.
Calum and Neil are the only living beings in the treetops. There is a sense of
isolation. Calum and Neil have been forced into what they are doing.
Animals are busy preparing for the storm. Calum is frightened by the
impending storm.
Calum asks Neil if he saw the light – Calum asks if it is heaven. This is
relevant because he is about to be killed. Calum speaks of a horse called
Peggy – this reminds up of Duror. Neil is lower down in the tree – partly
because of his rheumatism and partly because Calum is a better climber. It
also makes Calum nearer to death/God/heaven.
Once the rain starts heavily. The rheumatism has particular relevance. Neil
is aware that he doesn’t only have to look after Calum but he has to look
after his own health as well. If he gets ill then he can’t look after Calum and
he can’t work
They head for the beach hut – Neil knows that he has to go somewhere dry
otherwise he won’t be able to look after Calum. Calum knows that they’re
not allowed in the beach hut but they have to get somewhere warm and dry.
p. 125 “Is there never to be any sun again then” cried Neil “to dry them?”
The sun is a representative of life/brightness. In a sense he is asking if
there is going to be any future worth having.
The cones represent
hope/future etc. If the cones get spoiled they will not grow – there will be
no future.
They arrive at the beach hut and start a fire. They find the children’s toys.
Neil says that they should be quartered in the hut. Neil recognises that
they are not doing their job through choice but because they have to and so
they should be in the beach hut.
Neil and Calum have made a sacrifice. Lady Runcie Campbell is not willing to
do this.
There are various points emphasising the gulf of wealth between Lady Runcie
Campbell and Neil and Calum e.g. toys broken being replaced.
Neil knows Calum would pick the toy, which is broken, because it is
disfigured like him. It is a human figure – feels it might be hurt. Just after
they begin to get warm etc. Lady Runcie Campbell arrives. They got in
through the window but Lady Runcie Campbell has the key. She goes mad
when she sees that Neil and Calum have a fire going etc. They laugh at
Calum because he can’t get his coat on. Sheila doesn’t recognise how wrong
it is – she humiliates them. Roderick recognises his mother doing wrong
again.
When Calum says that Neil was only helping him keep dry she says “For
Christ sake.” She has so much Christianity that she will not even let them be
dry.
P 130 “Your father’s right. After this war, the lower orders are going to
be frightfully presumptuous”.
This shows what Lady Runcie Campbell’s like. She is scared she will lose her
position. She doesn’t think that the working class should have any rights.
Roderick recognises the truth in what’s happening. Even Sheila begins to
recognise the stupidity of her mother’s position. It is Calum and Neils fire
but it is in her hut so it is now her fire.
They lit the fire but Lady Runcie Campbell is getting the benefits. This is a
metaphor – the working class do all the work but the higher classes get the
benefits.
P 131 – 132 “Men in their job must be…..to no harm”
Her mentality is that they are a different kind of people. She is dismissive
saying that they will come to no harm. This upsets Roderick.
Lady Runcie Campbell remembers the callous attitude Duror had to his wife
and so she decides she is going to talk to Roderick about pity. She doesn’t
care about other people as she claims and wishes she did.
This is an important chapter, which uses lots of imagery to recognise society
and Lady Runcie Campbell’s attitude.
CHAPTER 12
Mr Tulloch arrives in the wood. Prior to Lady Runcie Campbell speaking to
Mr Tulloch, Neil and Calum have told him that they want out of the wood.
“She had not been able…..as she wishes.” Often people get uptight about
things and then when asked whats wrong -–they can't say.
Mr Tulloch knows that there are special actions, which must be kept to – he
knows his place in society. When Mr Tulloch goes to see Neil he sees him
appeared like an old man. He is virtually crippled by the pain of his
rheumatism – he can’t climb. Neil even has the fortitude that it’s not for
him –it’s for Calum. Neil has the intellectual ability to deal with it but Calum
doesn’t.
P 135 “Why is it …..have to be sacrificed.”
Calum is innocent but he is the one that is going to be sacrificed. This
emphasises how horrible Lady Runcie Campbell had been – she regards Neil
and Calum as lower than her pet dog. Mr Tulloch excuses her by saying that
she is a good lady but she has a code to live up to. Neil then says that if God
made Calum that shape so what right does she have to have him. Tulloch
could get into trouble if Lady Runcie Campbell complains to his boss because
his boss will probably take Lady Runcie Campbell’s side.
Jenkins thinks that the class system is wrong. He shows how they have
become trapped by the class system. He shows many times through the
book that the men could have been taken away. Jenkins has to make it clear
how much the power system affects the outcome of the novel. Everyone has
to grovel to the ones in power so it is the ones in power that always get their
way. In the book the ones with power are Duror and Lady Runcie Campbell.
Those with power are corrupt in their own ways.
Neil recognises that Tulloch has been a good friend. He is quite apologetic
to Tulloch and recognises that Tulloch is in a tricky situation as well.
Neil and Calum are the most expendable men that he had. They are the ones
that the forestry could most do without. Calum is a hunchback and Neil is
virtually crippled.
Tulloch wants to be able to keep them there – he doesn’t want to have to
send some of his other men. A good point about Tulloch is that he even
thinks about taking Neil and Calum out of the woods. Neil would only accept
an apology if it were direct to Neil and Calum. The chapter ends with
Tulloch, Neil and Calum talking about their childhood. This reduces the
tension in the novel. It shows us that tulloch is basically from the same
background as Neil and Calum – he understands them. There is a contrast
between Neil and Calum and Lady Runcie Campbell. It is mentioned twice
that Tulloch’s brother was killed at Dunkirk in the war. His family has
sacrificed something – Lady Runcie Campbell hasn’t.
CHAPTER 13
This starts off “in none……Rodericks.”
There are two clear points in this line. She has many rooms while Neil and
Calum live in a one-room hut – this is a contrast. She seeks Calum in
Roderick’s room. By this she is wanting to work out what Roderick was
talking about. If a child spoke against an adult it was awful. This room is a
surrogate Roderick.
She argues with the room, not Roderick.
When they get back to the house she is worried about Roderick. This is a
contrast with the way she threw Neil and Calum out into the rain. She sees
him as a fragile flower. She is a “practical Christian” – she can’t admit
wrong. A practical Christian is someone who is Christian when they want to
be. Her Christianity is valid as long as it supports what she does. She goes
against a fundamental Christian ethic.
In the morning she finds out that he is a lot better. We get a reminder that
her brother etc. is at war and may never come back. There is a lot about
death that prepares us that Calum is going to get killed at the end.
P 141 This speech makes Lady Runcie Campbell into a characature. The
speech is about the attitude of her land “angry and frustrated” – she is like
a child having a tantrum. There is an irony that she is arrogant and
overbearing. She doesn’t want to be treated equal to other people – she
wants things to stay the way they are.
“inferiority” – This idea is fundamental to Lady Runcie Campbell. She is
superior to everyone else – the others are subhuman. She has “civilised
bases” keeping her in place.
“patronising” “condescending” – It is far more condescending to presume how
they are going to react. She wants to perpetuate her superiority – she does
this by treating them inferiorly
When Roderick expresses the fact that he doesn’t know – another reference
to war – it changed the way society worked. A lot of the arguments that she
is coming out with are similar to Nazi arguments. Her privilege is inherited
and not based on any sort of work. It is to do with birth – same as Nazi
beliefs that you had to be born blue-eyed etc. Jenkins wants to show us
that her attitude causes what happens at the end.
She has the doctor see Roderick. “I’m going to ……gone” – her attitude is
that they are so inferior that they make the wood ugly.
The doctor came from an ordinary working class background – He cares no
more for Roderick than he would for any other son. He is polite enough not
to ask why he was called when there is nothing wrong. The doctor is not
flattered at being called out by her. The point of the doctor being in the
story is that he is everything that she finds inferior but we can see that he
is superior to her. This is a contrast with the pretend superiority that Lady
Runcie Campbell has.
There is a comment on Duror “…….worms”. This is an image of the things
going wrong. There is an awareness that something is seriously wrong.
Lady Runcie Campbell speaks to Duror’s mother in that she looks down on her
too.
Lady Runcie Campbell does not have a lot of self-knowledge. At the end of
the Chapter “it is ….involved”. At the beginning we are reminded of her
wealth and then at the end we are told she is reminded through a memory
that we are all brothers in God. By being born we are all involved. This
shows that she cannot say she is not involved in what is to come. For much
of the chapter she has gone on about how superior she is. Yet she doesn’t
really seem to have listened to what her father was saying – she says that
she got her Christianity from her father. There is also a reminder that she
is partly responsible for what is about to happen.
CHAPTER 14
At the beginning of the chapter we discover that Calum and Neil have gone
to a rocky pa….tory. It is rocky because there is an allusion towards Christ’s
crucifixion – it is at the top of a hill (where Christ was killed.) When we go
to the big house we get a description of Mr Tulloch. We discover that his
wife gets on to people when they slag him. The first reason for putting this
in is to show that people are seen as inferior because of how they look.
Jenkins is saying that you can slag off anyone but it is what the person is
like that is important.
The last thing that Calum says is “Cheerio sand the little man.” Calum is
singing like an angel. This person is innocent, he is someone we shouldn’t wish
any harm. Roderick looks for Calum and Neil because he wants to apologise –
he wants to be an equal. Roderick wants to be absolved of his sins – religious
references. He is sad when he discovers that they are leaving. Tulloch tells
Roderick not to go near them – he doesn’t want to cause any friction.
Roderick shows an interest in the cones etc. This has been put in to show
that Roderick has an interest in the cone gatherers. This also shows that
even ‘inferior’ people have expertise. In their jobs Neil and Calum are the
best – they have superiority.
Lady Runcie Campbell is sitting waiting for Tulloch. Her chair is like a throne
– an image of her perceived superiority. To Tulloch she seems to be like a
goddess – in Roman/Greek times goddesses were horrible to each other and
especially mortals.
She has a cold but she has to be looked after – even though she put Calum
and Neil out in the rain.
“deluge” – She recognises that it was snowy rain. She should recognise
that what she did was wrong, “deluge” has a biblical reference – Noah’s ark.
Her attitudes etc. are going to be changed by the deluge that is about to
happen.
The dog runs by with Sheila. The dog is well fed and kept in during the rain
– it is seen as more superior to Neil and Calum.
Lady Runcie Campbell wants Neil and Calum out of the wood – Neil and Calum
want out. Tulloch asks if they can stay till Saturday. She grants it – but
acts like a queen. If he had said about the beach hut she would have been in
the position to either admit she was wrong or admit that she wasn’t really
Christian. Instead of Neil and Calum he is going to send conscientious
objectors – they are deformed in mind rather than body (Calum). Lady
Runcie Campbell has to take these people. Tulloch doesn’t hate conscientious
objectors – he says that they are not cowards. Tulloch is reminding us that
we cannot condemn people because we don’t think the same as them. Tulloch
also makes the point that his wife and men disliked them at first but
eventually they saw them for what they were – it was the same with Calum.
This is what Lady Runcie Campbell fails to do.
The author brings up the thought that Roderick doesn’t like climbing trees
yet this is an irony because at the end of the book he wants to be like the
cone gatherers and so goes up the tree and gets stuck. He does this
because he wants to appreciate what the cone gatherers do. Tulloch says
that he wouldn’t send men that he didn’t trust – Neil, Calum and the
conscientious objectors.
When Duror comes around Lady Runcie Campbell is glad Tulloch is there
because she doesn’t want to stumble into his world. She recognises that
Duror is ill but she does nothing about it. There are descriptions of Duror
throughout the book. Each time he looks worse – this is an embodiment of
his state of mind. Duror has the 1-legged doll that Calum had earlier as in
the book.
P 157 “bosom……..shameful” the implication of the conversation between
Lady Runcie Campbell, Duror and Tulloch is that of sexual implications.
Lady Runcie Campbell doesn’t see the doll as innocent. When Tulloch asks
for the doll for his daughter she sees the doll as obscene. Tulloch knows
that Calum would have made a leg for the doll – biblical allusion of the cripple
who couldn’t walk. There are innocent allusions of the body with the
squirrel, which make Calum out to be totally innocent.
She tells her
daughter to get into the house to protect her. Tulloch says that Duror is ill.
If Lady Runcie Campbell has to admit that Calum and Neil have been treated
badly then she has to admit that she treated them badly.
p. 159 “of course………….grudge.” There is a
?
of war with what is
going on. Duror is an unhappy man that is the explanation. Lady Runcie
Campbell wants a proper explanation, she feels it is childish if there is no
explanation. Also if there is no explanation it can’t have happened – she is
able to get out of things. If she doesn’t accept the explanation then she
isn’t wrong – she can’t be wrong unless the explanation is accepted.
At the end of the chapter Tulloch wonders whether he should take Calum
and Neil away straight away. This is a sort of premonition of danger.
CHAPTER 15
This chapter begins with a representation of the Runcie Campbell’s.
p. 161 “Sheila …….borne.”
All work was done by hand – a woman sitting doing nothing suggests that she
has servants. Calum and Neil have been persecuted throughout the book yet
Sheila feels persecuted because she was told to stay inside in this plush
place. Her mother is trying to protect her from lust – she wants her
innocence kept.
Sheila asks if Duror is drunk.
something only nasty working class men did.
Drinking was seen as
Lady Runcie Campbell is
dismissive of this attitude. She sees it as vulgar. Sheila tries to get back
out. “Lady Runcie Campbell forced……..accusation.”
p. 162 “mysterious little hunchback” – there is a sense of something there
which she doesn’t understand it scares her. She is trying to see what Calum
is.
p. 162
For the first time Lady Runcie Campbell is questioning her own
behaviour – because of this we accept her. We cannot accept Duror’s
behaviour.
We get a reminder of the war – looking at the flight of 6 planes. This shows
us that the war is always in the background. We are also aware that Lady
Runcie Campbell is extremely influenced by her husband and father. Her
husband is very much a patriot – he believes in the rights of his class. Her
father believes that we should be more aware of the lower classes as equals.
The main point of chapter 15 is that Roderick gets stuck up the tree. It
becomes an irony.
p. 163
“……..manage it” Lady Runcie Campbell remembers her husband’s
comments.
Roderick is stuck up a tree trying to get to Calum's level. Roderick got up
the tree but he has lost his nerve. Harry is nervous, he is aware that he will
get the row because he has brought the news. The inferior classes are made
to feel inferior – humble is the automatic reaction to seeing the upper
classes.
Lady Runcie Campbell is pleased that Harry has been scared to climb up the
tree because it makes Roderick superior. If Calum and Neil can climb
further than Roderick it makes them superior to Roderick.
She gets upset when Harry suggests to them that Roderick has lost his
nerve – this makes Roderick seem like a coward. When she goes to see
Roderick he doesn’t reply to her. We find that Roderick has been trying to
gather cones trying to be like the cone gatherers. The ultimate irony is that
the only way Roderick can be “brought to salvation” is for her to get Calum
to save him. This is religious because Jesus died for salvation.
Lady Runcie Campbell still believes that she is perfect. She believes it
because Calum is deformed. She expects them to save her son but she still
refuses to see them as humans. The chapter ends with Calum having to save
Roderick despite all the abuse that they have had to take. We know that
Calum would save him even if Neil said no. We know they would because they
are superior.
CHAPTER 16
This is the resolution. At the beginning of chapter 16 Neil is not willing to
help because they have been treated so badly by Lady Runcie Campbell.
Calum remains compliant because he is too simple. He does what he believes
should be done. Neil has had his attitudes hardened because of the way
they’ve been treated and by the fact that last time they complied the
situation became worse.
Graham ran all the way to get them (he is old). They have been told to come
immediately. This doesn’t help. Not only are they to drop everything to help
Lady Runcie Campbell, they have been asked to drop their job. Graham is
seen as a humorous character – to lighten the story. This keeps our
attention – emphasises the bad bits, it makes what Neil says stand out.
“If she……..ask for it” If she wants them to help she has to treat them as
equals. Neil in his own way has helped destroy Calum. It he had accepted to
help he would have stopped Duror getting to Calum. At this point in the book
the classes become the same – have to request not demand. Classes have to
become the same – as the war treated people. In the war anyone can die –
people have to make similar sacrifices. In hard situations like this you have
to become equalised. Lady Runcie Campbell needs Neil and Calum so in the
end they are more important than she is.
Lady Runcie Campbell is forced to face up to her effect. “A man……so far”.
We realise and presume she knows what is meant by that. When Graham
tells Lady Runcie Campbell that Duror is on his way to Neil and Calum with a
gun she knows what is going to happen. She needs towards the cone
gatherers. She hopes that Duror has not hurt the cone gatherers for
Roderick’s sake.
Duror kills himself after killing Calum. He has destroyed his madness by
killing Calum so he has also destroyed himself.
Calum hangs from the tree – like Christ/crucifixion.
“From………..another” By Calum dying there is a future. “She……..heart”. this
is a biblical allusion. Only Mary went to the cross at the crucifixion. Calum
represents goodness – Christianity in a sense.
“A warship steamed down the loch” the reason for this is to show that the
cycle is complete. What was at the beginning is also at the end.