1. ‘THE CONE-GATHERERS’
ROBIN JENKINS

2. L.I
After reading
Today we are consolidating our understanding of the novel

3. The Cone-Gatherers’ by Robin Jenkins is set in…
The action takes place over…
The trees are to be cut down to…
The cones from the trees are to be…
The eponymous ‘Cone Gatherers’ are…

4. Introduction
‘The Cone-Gatherers’ by Robin Jenkins is set in Scotland during World War II. It is set on the estate of the Runcie-Campbell’s, a wealthy Scottish family.
The action takes place over a few days in Autumn in the forest on the estate. The trees are to be cut down to provide wood for the war effort.
The cones from the trees are to be collected before the forest is destroyed so that the trees can be replaced.
The eponymous Cone Gatherers are brothers Calum and Neil who have been sent to do this hard, demanding work.

5. Consolidation
Complete a ‘one pager’ response to the novel Plot/structure/key scene/incident Characters Themes Setting

6. Chapter One
In the opening chapter we are introduced to Calum and Neil who are high in the trees gathering cones. It is set during WWII and the forest is to be cut down for wood and needs to be replaced. Thus the reason for gathering cones.
We also find out that Calum is very compassionate to animals and is very sensitive to their pain. He has released rabbits from their traps which angers Duror, the main character in the novel.
The reader begins to learn of Duror’s shocking opinions. He hates the brothers, particularly Calum because of his deformity and wants him out of his wood.

7. Opening
What makes an effective opening?

8. Opening - analysis
Chapter one is significant because it introduces us to main characters, key themes and sets the scene. The opening is effective because: The character of calum is introduced The character of duror is introduced The setting is established Key themes of goov v evil and class are introduced

9. Character - Calum
Purpose of Analysis
In the opening chapter we learn about the character Calum:
Calum still has a childlike innocence at 31 years old
Calum cannot understand why animals kill each other
He successfully blocks out the war
Calum is at one with nature and sees goodness in all things
he realises life and death are linked
he is afraid of Duror
Calum is skilled in carving and climbing – nature
In pairs complete the following tables to give details of how these aspects of Calum are revealed.

10. Context (Understanding) Textual Reference (Quote / Evidence)
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
Neil and Calum were sitting in the dark at the top of a tree.
“Calum fancied he was resting in the heart
of an enormous flower.” (p2)
Calum becomes one with nature. Resting in the "flower", he is like a cherub on a cloud; and yet he is deformed. The result is an emphasis on his inner goodness.

11. Character - Duror
Purpose of Analysis
In the opening chapters we learn about the main character Duror:
he is a vindictive man
he hates deformity
he has a darker side to his character
his mind is in turmoil
he is emotionally damaged
Calum’s compassion for the rabbits angers Duror
He vows to get rid of the brothers
.His revulsion of anything imperfect stems fro childhood.
He is obsessed with the brothers and cannot help spying on them
Duror supports the Nazi regime
He fanaticises about murder
In pairs complete the following tables to give details of how these aspects of the main character are revealed.

12. Context (Understanding) Textual Reference (Quote / Evidence)
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
During their first day in the wood, Calum had released two rabbits and Neil had predicted trouble. Duror, the big gamekeeper, was waiting for them outside their hut.
“..His rage had been quiet but intimidating. .,,,,,,,,he would seize the first chance to hound them out of the wood; they were in it he said sore against his wish” (p5/6)
First impressions of Duror are of a physically strong, powerful character who seems quite evil and intolerant.

13. Conflict Purpose of analysis
In the opening chapters we learn about one of the main themes of the novel: that of conflict.
conflict in the setting - peace v war
Conflict in attitudes – soldiers v conscientious objectors
Conflict between good and evil – innocence v malice
conflict between classes – rich v poor
conflict between characters – Duror (evil) v Calum (innocence)

14. Conflict Context (Understanding)
Context
(Understanding)
From the top of the trees Calum and Neil can see a ship on the loch.
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
 A destroyer steamed seawards, with a sailor singing cheerfully.’ P1
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
The reference to a destroyer reminds us that the novel is set during World War Two. Symbolically, perhaps the destroyer represents Duror, the sailor Calum, who is ‘singing’, oblivious of danger. The juxtaposition of the cheerful sailor and the warship hints at the coexistence of good and evil.

15. Class Purpose of analysis
In the opening chapters we learn about the second main theme of the novel: that of class division.
The brothers live in squalid conditions
Neil is aware of the vast differences between them and the Runcie-Campbells
He questions their living accommodation when there are more suitable, humane solutions
Neil feels immense bitterness towards Lady Runcie Campbell
They are subservient to ‘the lady’

16. Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence (Analysis)
The home of Lady Runcie Campbell compared to that of the Cone gatherers themselves illustrate the class struggle
The big house is luxurious, “with fifty rooms”.
The cone-gatherers hut is at the bottom of the social scale with one room and no running water. This contrasts sharply with the mansion.

17. Setting Purpose of Analysis
In the opening chapters we learn about the significance of setting in time and place in helping to communicate the main themes:
Setting of World War Two
The ‘silver firs’/big house
Setting of the estate
Setting of the woods on the estate
The cone-gatherer’s hut
Time of year – Autumn
Nature imagery/symbolism
In pairs complete the following tables to give details of how these aspects of the setting are used to introduce theme/character.

18. (Analysis) Context (Understanding) Textual Reference
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
The fact that
the novel is
set during a time
of war helps
Jenkins develop
his theme.
“aeroplanes…copied for camouflage”
Ch1
The large conflict in the outside world mirrors small scale conflict within the wood. The threat of war and its ability to reach even the remotest spot is established from the outset, highlighting man’s propensity for evil.

19. TASK
Write a mini essay on the opening in answer to the following exam question
“Choose a novel with an effective opening. Show how the author makes it particularly effective and explain how it acts as an introduction to the rest of the novel”

20. Chapter two - Plot
In chapter two we meet Dr. Matheson as Duror is walking home from the woods. He offers Duror a lift home, for which Duror is an inconvenience as he will have to make small talk with the doctor. The doctor seems to be more interested in the lack of food due to the war and is not at all happy about it as he is used to fine food such as venison and whiskey. Duror returns home to a desperately unhappy home life. His wife, Peggy, is morbidly overweight and is bedridden. We also meet the dour, hostile mother-in-law Mrs Lochie. She blames Duror for her daughter’s misfortune and wants him to spend more time with her. We are of course, aware that Duror is repelled by anything that is deformed.

21. Key Characters Dr Matheson
reliable character whose judgment we can believe and trust.
Mrs Lochie
She, like Duror will never show her suffering
Mrs Lochie is aware of, and not afraid to comment on, Duror’s dissatisfaction with his married life
Peggy
Duror likens Peggy with Calum
Peggy and Duror were, at one time, happy

22. Key Quotations
“God knew how many inhibitions, repressions and complexes were twisting and coiling there, like the snakes of damnation.” “The sweetness of her youth still haunting amidst the great wobbling masses of pallid fat that composed her face added to her grotesqueness a pathos that often had visitors bursting into unexpected tears.”

23. Chapter Three
In this chapter we are introduced to Lady Runcie-Campbell’s rather clumsy son, Roderick. We are also introduced to his sister Sheila and their uncle Captain Forgan. It is in this chapter that Duror involves Mrs. Morton, the cook-housekeeper, and Lady RC in his plan to destroy the cone-gatherers.

24. Roderick a clumsy child Captain Forgan says he is envious of Duror’s life on the estate. Mrs Morton Mrs Morton – cook/house-keeper is used by Duror and becomes involved in his plot.

25. Key Quotations
“She accused us of being in bed together, but she put it more coarsely than that.”

26. Duror’s Lies
Duror tells Mrs Morton that he saw Neil exposing himself in the woods and is a threat to young girls like Sheila
Mrs Morton and Duror have feelings for each other but perhaps now Duror is incapable of love
Duror admits to Mrs Morton that he needs help

27. Chapter Four
Day two – in a discussion with Lady RC, Duror suggests that Calum and Neil be used as beaters. She asks Mr Tulloch and he agrees that they can be used. However, he phones back to explain that Calum has scruples over being a beater. Lady RC asks Duror for advice and her Christian values are overcome by her aristocratic values. Later though she proposes a compromise – that only Neil be used. Duror will have none of it. Thus the fateful deer hunt is to go ahead.

28. LRC Lady Runcie Campbell struggles with her Christian Values, she should be compassionate to those less fortunate than her

29. Key Quotations
“It astonished him that she, so generally good, should be helping him in his plan of evil.” “She would have given the cone-gatherers the use of the beach hut, if Duror had not dissuaded her…”

30. Chapter Five
In this chapter we learn of Neil’s worries over Calum. He is fearful of Calum’s fate should anything happen to him. Duror tries to climb the tree but suffers from dizziness. The brothers learn that they must take part in the deer hunt. Neil, furious on behalf of Calum, tells Duror that they are ‘free men’ and that they will not take part. Calum, out love for his brother, agrees to try his best to take part.

31. Cone Gatherers Evil The hut is a symbol of humiliation for Neil
Neil is humble and believes that the RC’s represent the power of the world
Evil
Neil is aware of the hatred that Duror has for him and his brother but cannot understand it

32. Key Quotation
“He had not anticipated… the sickening of his very will to hate… It seemed to him that he must therefore be far more ill and decayed than he had thought. He was like a tree still straight, still showing green leaves; but underground death was creeping along the roots.”

33. CHAPTER SIX THE DEER HUNT
Lady Runcie-Campbell organises a deer hunt in honour of her brother, Captain Forgan, who is on leave from serving in WWII. Neil is outraged on behalf of Calum that they have been asked to act as beaters. Neil insists that they do not take part. It is in this chapter that Duror reveals to others the psychological problems he has been experiencing.

34. Climax of the Deer Hunt
Calum, with overwhelming sympathy for the deer flings himself upon the injured animal, regardless of his own safety. Duror laughs like a madman as he carries out the savage attack on the deer.
He askes for Peggy in a state of confusion
He furiously attacks Calum
Duror’s misery returns with the realisation that his wife is not dead
It seems that both Duror and Lady RC blame Calum for the horrific events
we see Roderick and Mr Tulloch try to bridge the gap between lady RC and the cone-gatherers.

35. 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 in turmoil 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, disability 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.

36. Key Incident - The Deer Drive
Chapter 6
Purpose of Analysis
In these chapters we learn about:
Duror’s mental instability and inner conflict
Callum’s affinity with nature
The theme of social class through LRC and R
Conflict between good and evil through Duror and Calum

37. “…it was in the terror of that paralysis that he had wakened.” (p63
In pairs complete the following tables to give details of how the characters
and themes are developed.
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
 DUROR
At the lily pond, where the workers are to meet for the deer drive, Duror suddenly appears having just wakened from a dream about Peggy. 
“…it was in the terror of that paralysis that he had wakened.” (p63 
 Duror’s paralyis in the dream reveals his true feelings towards his wife. This suggests that subconsciously he wishes Peggy was dead, but ironically it is he who is paralysed in the nightmare, perhaps symbolising his emotional paralysis. This is significant because it is here that Duror reveals his inner turmoil to others for the first time.

38. CHAPTER SIX THE DEER HUNT
This chapter is a turning point for many reasons. Up to this point it has only been the reader who has been aware of the evil within Duror. At the deer hunt his deterioration is exploited publicly. It is also the point at which it is clear that the cone-gatherers will no longer be able to remain in the woods. Furthermore, after the deer hunt, we are to a large extent, shut off from Duror’s thoughts. We do not see him very often in the rest of the novel and often only through the eyes of other characters.

39. clear visible indications of Duror’s evil and decline
This incident could be considered a turning point because it includes the following:
clear visible indications of Duror’s evil and decline
reader’s perspective on Duror changes (inside to outside)
everyone on estate brought together – doesn’t happen again until end of novel
Tulloch/Roderick reflect hope and goodness but is thwarted after this chapter
the escalation of his hate e.g ‘crucifixion’ and Duror’s resolve to destroy CG
CGs treatment (social divide/class) leads to refusal to help LRC at end
Foreshadowing of climax – destruction of innocence e.g deer

40. The Deer Hunt DUROR
Duror’s nightmare – he reveals his mental state to others
Find examples and analyse (there are many)
His plan to kill Calum is connected to the fact that he has come to hate his wife and longs to be rid of her
Find examples and analyse
Duror has repressed his feelings which is why he appears stoic and ‘stalwart’
Duror’s intense hatred of Calum continues to grow and it is shocking to the reader to discover that his evil plan to rid them form the wood is far from over (reference to Christ)

41. The Deer Hunt CALUM
In these chapters we learn more about the character of Calum:
“never had the smaller one looked so like a monkey” pg 64
“had a pet ape…” pg 65
“Calum, however, was enticed by the beauty of the woods and the mystery of the game” pg 69
“he too was a deer” “ the deer flew for the doom ahead” – ominous foreshadowing of what is to come. Reflects owl imagery and is true – he is indeed hunted by Duror, a ‘ruthless predator’.
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.

42. The Deer Hunt Good v Evil
In these chapters we learn more about the theme of good v evil
“which beast your ladyship?” pg 71 Graham Erchie Graham recognises there is something wild about Duror – he sees that Duror has become a beast. 
“Duror seemed possessed by a fury to rise up and attack the hunchback”
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.

43. “then the creature would have been merely itself” Duror depersonifies Calum by comparing him to a ‘creature’. Duror does not see Calum as a human being and it is therefore easier (and more justifiable?) to kill such a creature as he would a rabbit or other such ‘vermin’.
‘…an agony, a crucifixtion” The part that Calum is to play is the role that Christ played for all mankind. On Christ’s shoulders were heaped all the sins of mankind and for this he was destroyed. Similarly, Duror is using Calum as his own personal Christ, his scapegoat, and is piling on Calum’s innocent head all his own sins and frustrations. Eventually Calum – like Christ – the personification of all that is good and innocent – has to be martyred.
Microcosm for brutality of war. Deer hunt viewed by gentry as symbol of status and duty - can compare this to the patriotic duty of Sir Colin, Captain Forgan in war – yet turns into a ‘shocking demeaning spectacle’, the reality of war.

44. The Deer Hunt CLASS
Lady Runcie-Campbell is horrified at the outcome of the deer hunt. She automatically blames Calum. However we also notice that Lady Runcie-Campbell believes in the system of privilege and tries to make sure that her Christianity justifies it. It is in this chapter that we see Roderick and Mr Tulloch try to bridge the gap between lady RC and the cone-gatherers.

45. The Deer Hunt CLASS
Mr Tulloch and Captain Forgan mistake Duror’s motives for attacking Calum
Lady RC sides with Duror in blaming Calum
Mr Tulloch is a decent man. He is fair and expects others, including Lady RC to be the same.
Roderick is also fair and he can see that unfairness in the treatment of the cone-gatherers.
The silver fir trees act as a barrier between the upper and lower classes. If the cones are not gathered, the trees will not be replaced after the war

46. Chapter Seven - Plot
In this chapter the macrocosm (WW2) touches the microcosm (Lendrick).
The main development here is the respect shown towards the cone gatherers: shopkeepers, policemen and in the café. This forms a contrast to the lack of respect shown towards TCG by LRC and Duror. The author’s purpose is to develop the reader’s sympathy towards Calum and Neil and to make the events which follow all the more unreasonable and cruel.

47. Key Characters
Conscientious objectors - Their gradual acceptance suggests that it is unnatural to hate for long and that humanity has a natural urge for company and community. This can be contrasted to Duror. The conscientious objectors live by their principles in defiance of the opinions of others and are compassionate and tolerant. They can be compared to Roderick Runcie-Campbell who tries to do the same.

48. Key Quotations
“The likes of you and me have just got to help it, when our betters tell us”

49. Themes
Social Class Conflict

50. Chapter 8 Duror’s appointment with Dr Matheson
As a consequence of the scene at the Deer Drive Duror has a doctor’s appointment .The theme of internal conflict is revisited in the scene with Duror and Dr Matheson. Duror gets a diagnosis of the roots of his illness. Dr Matheson continues to be the reliable witness so his conclusion is right: This is the reason for Duror’s madness:

51. “Since your wife’s illness you have never had relations with her?”
“Therefore you have lived like a monk ever since. This has set up stresses and now it is affecting you physically.”
The doctor looks at ways in which Duror can address this problem:
“Other women” (break religious and social rules, and affair was unacceptable in this community)
“Religious acceptance” (have “faith” but Duror does not believe in God)
“Endurance” – this is the doctor’s advice, they drink a toast to it: “Aye, to endurance.”

52. Chapter 8 CLASS
Lady RC takes her children to the pictures. They meet Calum and Neil and Roderick suggests that they give them a lift back otherwise they will have to walk but Sheila strongly objects.
Consider the views of Lady RC, Roderick, Sheila and Duror and their reaction to Roderick’s suggestion that they should be offered a lift home

53. Chapter 9 DUROR/THEME
Duror returns from his consultation with Dr. Matheson
Here we witness Duror's inner turmoil. This is how he really feels – he is a man on the brink, as his physical positioning at the edge of the pier highlights. The actions which he considers are not only brutal, but final. Furthermore, there is a direct contrast here between his outward appearance and his inner feelings.
Duror “stared” at the water which would indicate that he is looking for himself, seeking an answer in his reflection. However, because it is night, he can see nothing below him but darkness. Thus there is no hope for him, no salvation.
Duror appears to realise that he has reached the end. However the fact that he "halted" would suggest that he is unable to end his own suffering.
Duror's longing for the end encourages sympathy from the reader. There is an inherent sadness here, and the realisation that death would be preferable to life is expressed through the use of the word "wish".

54. Chapter 9 THE PUB
The men in the pub feel a degree of sympathy for Duror’s predicament with Peggy.
A soldier in the pub tells a joke about fighter pilot and an ape.
We learn that the brother’s mother committed suicide after the birth of Calum.
FIND EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

55. Key Characters
The men in the pub - note their wann welcome to Neil and Calum. They reveal Neil's sociable side. They are cautious of Duror and their reaction to him shows how his steely exterior isolates him. They know his situation but their view contrasts with that of LRC and Effle. Whilst they are effusive in their sympathy for Duror, these men, though not callous, see that Duror's situation must be accepted just as others must endure and accept the hardships they face in their lives. Their sympathy and compassion for Neil and Calum is touching. This all combines to accentuate Duror's isolation - see final sentences of chapter.
Corney - described as boisterous, hearty, jocular, laughs at 'prudery'. First impressions are of a thick-skinned character yet he surprises all with the depth of his regret at telling the story. 'He touched Calum's hump' and 'Christ, strike me dead' and 'I should have kept my mouth shut.' Contrasts sharply with Duror's reaction.

56. Chapter 10 CLASS
Lady RC makes her usual visit to Peggy. The theme of class is exemplified by the behaviour of both women: Lady RC cannot stand Peggy’s ‘fawning’ manner while Peggy ‘simpers’ and fawns over her because she is an aristocrat.
FIND EVIDENCE FORM THE TEXT

57. Chapter 10 RODERICK
Sir Colin has concerns about his son. He writes letters in which he wishes to be reassured about Roderick’s ‘manner of speaking…to the lower orders’. He believes that failure to adhere to the class structure would be ‘downright disastrous’.
Roderick however admires the cone-gatherers and his desire to visit them after his mother would refused them a lift, makes his lie to her.
Roderick in the wood – references to Christian in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ a religious allegory
FIND EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

58. Chapter 10 RODERICK
This ‘quest’ is very improtant to Roderick. He wishes to give them a ‘cake of friendship’
The cake should take the form of a reparation
He thinks of the journey through the wood as a pilgrimage – imaginative
He sees Duror and thinks of his as evil and wonders if he has gone mad.
He wishes to protect the cone-gatherers from Duror
Roderick feels frightened when he notices Duror – he feels defeated.
FIND EVIDENCE FRON THE TEXT

59. THE BEACH HUT 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. The storm is needed for the plot –without the storm the next chapters wouldn’t have happened. They arrive at the beach hut and start a fire. Neil says that they should be quartered in the hut. Neil recognises that they are not doing their job (collecting cones) through choice but because they have to and so they should be in the beach hut “this represented not only dryness and warmth but humanity” pg125 . This exacerbates Neil’s feelings of bitterness at their treatment. “is the lady like the thunder and lightning, that we should be forced to flee from her as well?” pg 125 Neil’s sense of the injustice of the situation is conveyed here. The storm itself is symbolic of LRC herself when she finds them and accosts them in a violent and uncontrollable fury.

60. THE BEACH HUT Chapter 11 Purpose of Analysis
This incident is important because it reinforces:
Symbolism of setting
Social class/Neil’s bitterness
Calum’s goodness
LRCs battle between Christianity and class
Roderick’s sense of injustice

61. Key Incident - The Beach Hut
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
SETTING
Approaching storm is a metaphor for violence
“…indigo clouds had been mustering”
represents the growing animosity of Duror. It is an indication of what’s about to happen with Duror.
“yet…peace and brightness persisted”

62. The Storm
Literally, storms are violent so the storm is a metaphor for violence. “…indigo clouds had been mustering” reflects early hints at inevitability of outcome whilst “black clouds were now overhead. Thunder snarled” pg 121 represents the growing animosity of Duror. It is an indication of what’s about to happen with Duror. “yet…peace and brightness persisted” pg 122 could be seen as Calum’s goodness – not yet extinguished or Roderick’s growing sense of justice and compassion for the men.

63. Calum’s goodness/Neil’s bitterness
Calum asks Neil if he saw the light – Calum asks if it is heaven ( this shows the extent of Calum’s innocence and Neil’s realism “there was no merciful god” pg 123.)
This is relevant because Calum is about to be killed. 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.
Their individual disabilities make them more vulnerable in the face of the storm and the fact that “they were the only living creatures left in the treetops” pg 120 increases the isolation that they have been battling against since their first days on the estate. Their position is also representative of their vulnerability.

64. LRCs battle between Christianity and class
They head for the beach hut
Calum knows that they’re not allowed “the lady will be angry again”
“this represented not only dryness and warmth but humanity”.
This is another by-product of Duror’s evil.
LRC WOULD have let the CGs have the beach hut but Duror talked her out of it. She has no idea about their living conditions BUT doesn’t care enough to find out herself.
The storm itself is symbolic of LRC herself when she accosts them in a violent and uncontrollable fury

65. LRCs battle between Christianity and class
The phrase “for God’s sake” is loaded with heavy irony – she is behaving in the most unchristian way. Her anger suggests that she is not only fighting for her property BUT her place in, and the survival of, the social system.
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 is like.
She is scared she will lose her position. She doesn’t think that the working class should have any rights.

66. Social Class
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.
Calum’s inherent goodness is shown once more through his initial apprehension and reluctance to enter the hut, and his desire to protect Neil and take the blame for their “astonishing impudence”.
The toys are a physical representation of Neil’s resentments of the RCs.
The broken toys represent their carelessness and easy disregard for others.

67. Social Class
Lady RC goes mad when she sees that Neil and Calum have a fire going
Neil is ashamed and doesn’t speak up “a lifetime of frightened submissiveness held it down”. This shows their lack of control over the social system in which they live.
Neil’s inability to raise his head is symbolic of the class system and social prejudice that holds him down.
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.

68. Social Class
It is Calum and Neil’s 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.

69. Roderick's attitude
Roderick’s face is described as ‘grave and tense’ following his mother’s outburst
His mother is anxious about his ‘oversensitive conscience’
Lady RC remembers Duror’s treatment of Peggy and decides to talk to him about pity.

70. Chapter12 - plot
After the incident at the beach hut – Neil phoned Mr Tulloch to intervene on their behalf
Neil wishes he and Calum be taken away from the forest
Brothers will be replaced with two conscientious objectors
Neil demands an apology from Lady RC in person

71. Key characters The focus in the chapter is on Mr Tulloch
Tulloch consulted his wife about the incident – biblical reference
Neil’s appearance shocks Tulloch
He admires Neil’s patience and determination
Tulloch is unpatronising and listens to Neil – beach hut, Lendrick
Tulloch is kind, fair and understanding
He represents the voice of reason again

72. Key Quotations
“Why is it Mr Tulloch”, he asked, “that the innocent have always to be sacrificed?” p 164 “she seemed to him to be a victim rather than a perpetrator” p 165

73. Theme
The main theme here is the conflict between good and evil where Tulloch and the Cone Gatherer’s represent decency, humanity and equality.
The secondary theme is class where we see and hear Tulloch’s thoughts on LRCs role in the estate and the duties that come with it. He feels sorry for her because of it.

74. Chapter 13 Plot
LRC is worried about Roderick – sees him as a fragile flower.
They argue about her treatment of the CGs – she says that he must assert his inherited position in the world
She phones Duror to make the brothers leave
The key event in this chapter is the phone call between Mrs. Lochie and LRC. The doll is used to bring matters to a climax –Duror’s madness is reaching its climax and it offers LRC’s the reason she has been looking for to get the CGs out of ‘her’ wood.
The doctor is called for Roderick

75. Key characters
LRC Roderick The doctor The doll

76. Character - Lady RC
P 172 This speech makes Lady Runcie Campbell into a caricature. The speech is about her attitude to 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

77. Lady RC
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.

78. The Doctor
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.

79. Key Quotations
“in none of her many rooms…. The one where she sought them most was Roderick’s.” p169
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.

80. Key Quotations
“Aye he was always clean-mouthed, I’ll say that for him. But this morning he came in with a doll.” p179 The doll is a device which shows outwardly the change in Duror which has happened inwardly. The doll (innocence) in his hands is ruined (raped). When speaking about he speaks in foul terms. Thus innocence has been lost and the characters spiral down to their inevitable fates.

81. Theme - Class
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.

82. Chapter 14 - Plot Duror’s second appointment with LRC and the revelations about the doll
Calum and Neil have gone to a rocky promontory, 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 to show that people are seen as inferior because of how they look.
Tulloch informs LRC of his plans
Duror enters as tehy are talking.
Duror makes awful allegations against callum and is ordered out – he’s gone too far and even LRC won’t support him.

83. Key quotations
“Of all the bonny corners in the wood, this was the bonniest” p 181
“So small a place as Ardmore should represent so universal a humanity” p 182
“”In Duror’s repitious incoherence…” p 192

84. The Doll
“Bosom……..shameful” the implication of the conversation between Lady Runcie Campbell and Duror 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.
Tulloch makes the doll ‘innocent again’ and is again seen to be self possessed and reasonable.
It shows Calum innocent personality as he purely sees the doll as a broken toy with no sexual implications that Duror has spread rumours about.

85. Roderick The last thing that Calum says is “Cheerio.”
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 shows 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.

86. Roderick
The author brings up the thought that Roderick doesn’t like climbing trees yet this is an irony because at the end of the novel 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.

87. Tulloch Tulloch asks if they can stay till Saturday. She grants it.
If he had mentioned the incident at 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.

88. Duror
Duror suddenly appears when Lady RC and Tulloch are talking – note his description – no dogs, no gun, dirty, dishevelled
We see Duror dressed very ruggedly and is ill mannered. His shameful appearance shows the image of mind as well. His mind has become very deluded and has taken every opportunity to make the cone gatherers lives a living hell.
He has with him the doll which now becomes ‘obscene’
Tulloch explains that Calum would only have mended its leg and that he had carved a squirrel for his own daughter
However the mood is destroyed when Duror rambles hoarsely to Lady RC, making accusations of the foulest kind against Calum
Duror keeps repeating the word ‘seed’
Lady RC is absolutely horrified by this out burst and asks Duror if he has gone mad
He is sent away to continue his work

89. Chapter 15 - plot Roderick becomes a CG and climbs the tree
.However he also wants the cone gatherers to get back in favour with LRC, he hopes that if they help him she will let them stay.
He’s making a statement about the social barrier – he’s going to climb it.
He wants to become a cone gatherer
When in danger only the cone gatherers can rescue him, this he hopes will restore them to favour with his mother

90. Key quotations
“It is one of the very big trees at the end of the park; a silver fir”
Roderick chooses the climb a tree which is symbolic of the huge barrier between classes. He wishes to join the cone gatherers and pick cones – he aligns himself with the “green abundant future” of the new wood, not the barren past or the anguished present

91. Key characters
Roderick
Erchie
LRC and Sheila

92. Key Scene – the ending Chapter 16
The climax is important because although evil appears to triumph over good, Duror cannot live with the emptiness that is left, thus evil destroys itself. Unfortunately in the process Calum is sacrificed. In the end Lady Runcie Campbell’s reaction suggests that there is hope for the future. She weeps for humanity when she weeps for Calum and her compassion symbolises where hope lies; she realises that what is important is being human regardless of race, class or creed.

93. The Climax of the Novel Purpose of Analysis
The results of social class divisions - Neil
Calum (culmination of Christ allegory- personification of GOOD)
Duror’s final decline, outcome of evil , state of mind and his ultimate death
Class division - Lady Runcie Campbell’s realisation – she has learned to show humanity and compassion
 Setting is significant– links back to warships. Evil STIL exits - macrocosm is still in CONFLICT.

94. “If she...ask for it” pg 209 Context (Understanding) Textual Reference
Context
(Understanding)
Textual Reference
(Quote / Evidence)
Comments on Evidence
(Analysis)
 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.
 ”we are not her servants” pg 208
“If she...ask for it” pg 209
 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

95. Lady RC - realisation
Roderick is stuck in the tree – he admires the cone gatherers – he cannot get down
LRC acts calmly and decisively
At one point however she turns on Harry as she thinks he implied cowardice (extreme insult in aristocratic society)
It is she who finds Calum’s body
She goes down on her knees among the blood and cones

96. Lady RC - realisation She cannot pray but she can weep
As she weeps pity and joy and hope well up in her heart
The fact she decided to go to the cone gatherers is a great concession for her
The ending shows she has learnt a lesson about rank and Christianity

97. Duror’s final decline
Graham tells Duror that the CGs refused to help Roderick – Duror walks of in their direction without speaking
Graham tells LRC about Neil and Duror –
LRC goes in search of the CGs – she hears a gun shot
She hears another shot and knows that Duror has killed himself
Evil appears to triumph over good but Duror cannot live with the emptiness that is left – evil destroys itself
“Duror was stalking away towards the point.” “It was as if the rotting tree itself had moved.” This final reference to the metaphor of the tree shows the final outcomes of Duror’s corruption – we have moved from rape onto murder and ultimately to his suicide. The word choice “stalking” suggests his deliberate planning, actions and choice.

98. Suicide
Duror commits suicide: “Somewhere on her beloved promontory Duror, with his face shattered and bloody, lay dead.” In a few moments Duror discovers that killing Calum does not settle him, he remains totally corrupted, and in a moment of self realisation decides to end it all. Promontory (LRCs pride?) is tainted forever.

99. Hope - After Calum is killed and Duror dies things begin to turn around:
                              
Roderick is safely brought down.
LRC finally realises what Calum represented and with his blood dripping down on her “She could not pray, but she could weep; and as she wept pity and purified hope and joy welled up in her heart” Thus Calum’s death brings about a good outcome as evil is replaced with the hope that having been freed from the presence of a great evil (Duror) a new wood (a new society) can be planted and that the old barren ways will be replaced by a new future.