Cone gatherers summary notes

Chapters 1-4 

(Scotnotes)

In these chapters we are introduced first of all to the brothers Neil and Calum, who are high in the trees gathering cones. So much of the wood is being used for war purposes that it will have to be seeded with these cones. Calum is absoloutely at home in the trees, helping his brother down, though on land he is clumsy because of his deformity and it is Neil who helps him.We find out that Calum is very compassionate to animals and sensitive to their pain and has released some rabbits from traps in the past which Duror, the keeper, has set. For this reason it seems, Duror hates the two brothers, and wants them out of the wood. Toward the start of the novel, they come across a snared rabbit with both its paws broken, and Calum cannot bring himself to put it out of its misery even though he knows it would be in the best interest of the creature. Meanwhile, Duror has been watching them in 'an icy sweat of hatred', his gun aimed at the hunchback, Calum. Before the cone gatherers arrival the woods had been Durors refuge; his escape from a painful domestic life, but now Duror believes it is polluted/ruined by this 'freak'Duror kills the rabbit with one blow and then makes his way to the brothers' dirty little hut, where he spies on them obsessively. Throughtout these early pages the dominant emotion is Durors savage hatred for the brothers, especially Calum, whom he calls sub human.Duror then meets Dr Matheson, the local doctor, who seems more interested in his food (or lack of it) than anything else. Because of the war, spam (cheap, processed pork) is the main meat and the doctor (who has clearly been used to rich food such as 'venison' and 'good whiskey) is not happy. However, he is a shrewd and we do find out his opinion of Duror, whom he suspects of hiding emotions behind an apparantly calm surface. He senses a fanatical nature behind Durors composure (26)After meeting the doctor, Duror goes home to a desperately unhappy domestic situation (life at home). His wife, Peggy, is  grossly fat and bedridden, and in her own way deformed. She is described as having 'great, wobbling masses of pallid fat' (30). It is clear that Durors life is a dreadfully constricting one, with a bedridden wife and a hostile, hateful mother in law, Mrs Lockhie, who accuses him of speaking more often to his dogs than to Peggy. It is here that she gives him the news that the mistress of the estate, Lady Runcie-Campbell (LRC) wants a deer hunt organised for her brother who is on leave (37)The prospective deer hunt allows Duror to concoct a plot in which the two brothers will be drafted in as beaters. He knows that because of his sensitivity to pain in animals, Calum is likely to disgrace himself and LRC may dismiss the two brothers from the estate, so Duror would have peace in 'his' forest. The following morning, we are introduced to Roderick, LRC's son, who is a rather clumsy boy, and Sheila his sister, as well as Captain Forgan, their uncle. We discover that Duror thinks of the Deer as 'vermin' and 'enemies' (45) which hints to his hatred of nature, and while LRC agrees that they are enemies, she says that 'not all our enemies are ugly, cruel, savage and beastly; some are beautiful'There is a brief interlude with Duror and Mrs Morton, the buxom cook-housekeeper, from which we gather that Duror is sexually repressed. When he brings up the subject of the cone gatherers, Mrs Morton shows no hostility towards them but Duror is quite happy to tell lies about them, and actually goes as far as to suggest that Calum is a sexual pervert and dangerous to young girls like Sheila. He says that he has seen Calum exposing himself (52)In a discussion with Lady Runcie-Campbell, Duror suggests that because of a shortage of beaters, Calum and Neil should be used. LRC asks Mr Tulloch, the head forester, for permission to use them and at first he agrees, however Tulloch phones again and expresses Calums reluctance to become a beater. After consultation with Duror, she insistes that the brothers would join the hunt, her imperious aristocratic nature overcoming her Christian compassion. Later however she does propose a compromise, that only Neil should be used, but Duror is successful in disuading her from this. Thus, the fateful deer hunt goes ahead (65)

Conflict in Chapter 1

(Teachers notes)

The three themes introduced in this passage/chapter include confict in the setting(peaceful perfection vs war), confluct between classes (rich vs poor) and conflict between chatacters (Duror as evil vs Calum as good) The setting at the start is one of perfection, much like the garden of Eden; 'it was a good tree' , 'much sunshine', 'its topmost branches as comfortable as chairs'. However, this perfection is lost; a contrast begins between the perfect setting and conflict through war related happenings; 'A destroyer steamed seaward' brings WW2 in and draw attention to the theme of conflict. Also 'gunshots cracked far off in the woods' - onomatopia. There's further conflict between classes (the rich and poor): -Poverty is shown through the cone gathers and their home; a makeshift hut which is described as 'a greasy shed', 'hardly bigger than a rabbits hutch', 'the ground round about was filthy with their refuse and odure'-The rich are introduced through the big house's 'private fence of giant firs' which is symbolism. 'private' suggests the poor are to be kept out, 'fence' is a symbol that there is a real distance/seperation between the rich and poor, 'giant' shows that this division is huge and significant, and 'silver' has connnotation of wealth- the division is for the menefit of the rich.

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