Duror’s mental and psychological disintegration The Cone Gatherers Duror’s mental and psychological disintegration

Duror The Roots - dislike of deformity - Peggy The Reveal - the Deer Drive - the self-awareness this brings to Duror - The doctor’s diagnosis The Result - rape (the doll) - murder (Calum) - suicide (himself)

1. The Roots: Deformity “Since childhood Duror had been repelled by anything living that had imperfection, deformity or lack”. “repelled” suggests a strong force which Duror had to fight creating a powerful internal conflict. “Deformity” suggests Duror could not cope with anything abnormal which set him up in conflict with Calum who had a hunchback. “The overspreading tree of revulsion in him”. “Overspreading” suggests that Duror’s disgust would gradually cast shade over a number of characters (Mrs Morton, Peggy, LRC, The Cone Gatherers), and that it was a growing force which was gradually overwhelming him. “Revulsion” suggests strong disgust and indicates that Duror was constantly struggling with powerful thoughts and emotions which gradually would lead to his total disintegration.

1. The Roots: Peggy “The sweetness of her youth still haunting amidst the great wobbling masses of pallid fat that composed her face added to her grotesqueness…” After only a few years of happy marriage Duror’s wife Peggy became the victim of an illness which left her legs paralysed and led to a monstrous obesity. “Grotesqueness” suggests someone repulsively ugly which shows that Duror would be repelled by her. The effect of her ugliness, the denial of a sexual relationship because of it and being unable to escape from this situation (he could not accept “endurance” ) overwhelmed Duror mentally to the point of feeling “murder, rape or suicide”.

2. The Reveal: The Deer Drive “Hidden among the spruces … stood Duror the Gamekeeper in an icy sweat of hatred, with his gun aimed all the time at the feebleminded hunchback grovelling over the rabbit.” “Hidden” reminds us that for some time Duror was suppressing his urges to kill and the powerful feelings inside of him. “icy sweat of hatred” reveals the coldness and the madness. “gun aimed all the time” shows that Duror planned to use violence which foreshadows the end of the novel “feebleminded hunchback” suggests that Duror saw Calum as mentally and physically disgusting to him” – on every level Duror was repelled and disgusted by Calum. At this stage Duror’s plan is to get rid of Calum by getting him into trouble at the Deer Drive.

2. The Reveal: The Deer Drive “Duror followed by his dogs came leaping out of the wood. He seemed to be laughing in some kind of beserk joy. There was a knife in his hand.” Up until the Deer Drive Duror’s disintegrating psychological state had been more or less hidden: from this point onwards all the major characters are aware of the problem. “Beserk joy” suggests that Duror has now descended into some kind of madness and is getting a strange pleasure from it. The reference to the “knife” suggests he plans violence, perhaps to kill the deer (links to the theme of death in the novel) and foreshadows violence later in the novel.

2. The Reveal: The Deer Drive “Rushing upon the stricken deer and the frantic hunchback, he threw the latter off with furious force, and then, seizing the former’s head with one hand cut the throat savagely with the other …” The use of a series of powerful verbs indicates the suddenness and the violence of this incident. “savagely” suggests something very violent and primitive which shows us that at this point Duror has deteriorated to an extreme point where he is no longer thinking or behaving in a civilised way. “Peggy? He asked. “What’s happened to Peggy” The repetition of “Peggy” and the use of questions reveals the real source of Duror’s savage actions and his real intent.

2. The Reveal: Self-awareness “He understood for the first time why he hated the hunchback so profoundly and yet was so fascinated by him. For many years his life had been stunted, misshapen, obscene and hideous and this misbegotten creature was its personification.” Here Duror understands that Calum’s outward physical shape which disgusts him so much symbolises his own inward state: “obscene and hideous” suggests the disgust and horror which is growing inside and overwhelming him. Duror believes at this point that only the removal of the Cone Gatherers will bring him peace of mind.

2. The Reveal: Dr Matheson “Therefore you have lived like a monk ever since. This has set up stresses and now its affecting you physically.” The Doctor’s diagnosis is to be trusted. The roots of Duror’s problems lie in sexual repression and “stresses” suggests they are literally cracking him up. “The result was a revulsion against the doctor’s reiterated philosophy of endurance” “endurance” suggests that the Doctor thinks that Duror should learn to live with this, Duror’s response if “revulsion” suggesting strong rejection – a powerful force which will spur him on to violent action: “feeling like murder, rape or suicide.”

3. The Result: the doll “Aye he was always clean-mouthed, I’ll say that for him. But this morning he came in with a doll …” Mrs Lochie informs LRC of a change in Duror. He is making lewd and filthy accusations about Calum having taken from the Cone Gatherer’s hut the doll Calum had taken to mend. Later in LRC’s presence he will keep repeating the word “seed” suggesting that Calum has masturbated over the doll. This links back to the lie he told Mrs Morton and the Doctor that he had seen Calum “exposing himself”. This “incoherence” shows that Duror’s disintegration is now almost complete, he is rambling and out of control.

3. The Result: Calum “Duror was stalking away towards the point. It was as if the rotting tree itself had moved.” “stalking” suggests a hunter after his prey and shows that Duror clearly planned to kill Calum once and for all. “Rotting tree” symbolises Duror’s rotten to the core mental state, you can not now separate Duror from the evil inside of him. He has submitted to the growing evil, it has finally overwhelmed him.

3. The Result: Duror “She saw Duror before she saw them. He was walking away among the pine trees with such infinite desolation in his every step that it was the memory of him rather than of the little hunchback dangling from the tree, or that of his brother climbing so frenziedly into it which was to torment her sleep for months.” “infinite desolation” suggests that the emptiness inside of Duror is complete. All goodness and sense of well being has gone from him. “Somewhere on her beloved promontory Duror, with his face shattered and bloody, lay dead.” This is Duror’s only solution now that the murder of Calum has not brought him peace he commits suicide: the end result of his total disintegration: “shattered” suggesting he has blown his head to pieces with his gun ( foreshadowed by the gun and the doctor’s bag).