Choose a novel or short story in which the writer explores feelings of rejection, isolation or alienation. Explain how the writer makes you aware of these feelings.
Go on to show how this exploration enhances your appreciation of the novel as a whole.

In Robin Jenkin’s novel, “The Cone Gatherers” we follow the malevolent character of Duror who goes through an internal struggle to try and control his hatred for deformities. Duror’s mental decline is driven by the presence of Calum, a hunchback who is collecting cones in the forest in the estate where Duror is the gamekeeper. We are exposed to the dark and twisted nature of the tortured gamekeeper’s mind through his fixation with Calum, the sickness of Duror’s wife, Peggy and the isolation he encounters in the forest. Jenkins explores the nature of good versus evil through the development of Duror.

Calum’s arrival in the wood had unsettled Duror due to his deformities and the gamekeeper became obsessed with him. Calum as he saw it ‘defiled’ his sanctuary. He was alone in his obsession and he unreasonably felt that if he destroyed Calum, these bad feelings would go and everything would return to normal. Jenkins had told us that Duror was repulsed by anything that had ‘imperfection, deformity or lack’. However there is also a more historic root to his mental state as in Chapter 2 when Dr Matheson encounters Duror and is worried about his state of mind. His wife Peggy was a ‘haunting ‘ figure; a ghost of her former self; “a wobbling mass of pallid fat” which created disgust and hints at the roots of Duror’s problem and disgust at deformity. Dr Matheson had spoken of ‘endurance’ to Duror but no way would Duror accept this ; he was repulsed.

Throughout the novel Jenkins makes us aware of his fixation with the handicapped Calum, the sickness of Peggy, the voices in his head and the isolation he encountered in the forest. The twists and turns of the novel manifests itself to be a tale of injustice, ignorance and insanity.
Duror’s behaviour was deceitful from the onset of the novel. Examples of him, hiding in the woods waiting for Calum and his brother Neil, avoiding kissing his wife or spending time with her, to lying about Calum exposing himself in the forest. Duror was depicted as the embodiment of evil, a pathetic figure whose life is wasted. He enjoyed a certain freedom associated with his job as gamekeeper which offered him the opportunity to follow his darkest desires.
One of the main scenes in the novel is the deer hunt, where Duror’s instability becomes clear to all the characters in the novel when he confused the deer with Peggy when he slit it’s throat. He was like a tree, still straight underground…… but death was creeping along the roots. Outwardly he tried to be in control , keeping a veneer of normality. However Duror took out all his resentments about his life on Calum; his frustrations about the way his life had turned out due to his wife’s illness.
In chapter nine he spoke of “Murder, rape and suicide”, foreshadowing his increasing lack of control, his bitterness and hopelessness and isolation.

There is no doubt that his isolation increased as the novel unfolded, and Calum was the personification of this. Jenkins had examined the mystery of evil as he depicted the downward spiral of Duror into madness, murder and suicide/
Duror was not born evil, he had been a good ‘stalwart’ man according to Dr Matheson., but over the years he had become a cynic and felt that whatever he does in life he failed at. He became very embittered , feeling that everybody and everything was against him. He became withdrawn, then angry as his marriage crumbled before his eyes. He looked for someone to blame e and the appearance of Calum with his crippled body and angelic face was too much to bear for Duror. Calum was happiness personified.

Jenkins explored feelings of alienation through use of characterisation, imagery, personification and many other features in the novel. His exploration of good versus evil ; evil being described as a ‘presence like air, affecting everyone’
Duror’s evil was a force that compelled him into thinking devious and immoral thoughts and behaviour. The sinister power acting upon Duror is not only portrayed through direct speech and thoughts but also through the imagery of the tree growing inside his mind. Jenkins used the extended metaphor of a decaying tree to develop the character of Duror.The novel centred on the theme of good versus evil and how they co-exist to balance each other.

The two main causes of Duror’s descent into insanity were Peggy and Calum, who both provoked different emotional responses from the reader. The unjust hatred towards Calum instigated the reader’s hatred towards Duror, while the burden of Peggy preventing Duror from happiness, causes sympathetic inclination towards Duror.
Duror’s death is a momentous occasion not just for the victory of ‘good’ but the long -awaited escape from the world he hated so much.
Duror had been a tortured soul and Jenkins’ portrayal of his character juxtaposed with Calum made this novel an interesting read. The early signs of the evil force affecting Duror’s life by leading him down the path towards insanity was evident from our first encounter with Duror ; “in an icy sweat of hatred , with his gun aimed all the time at the feeble-minded hunchback”, when he saw Calum trying to save the wounded rabbit caught in one of Duror’s traps. The act itself is not only enough to show us that he hated Calum with a passion but also that this evil force changes Duror’s natural morals of what is r\ight and wrong. Calum constantly disturbed Duror’s thoughts regardless of whether he was present throughout the novel. The impact of his obsessional thoughts regarding Calum , on his everyday life was shown clearly in Duror’s inability to think clearly and have a conversation with out making reference to Calum when he was in conversation with other characters such as Mrs Morton or Dr Matheson.

The ‘deer scene’ one of the most important scenes in the book made it clear to the reader and enhanced the novel as a whole.
“Again he threw a glance of hatred at the little cone gatherer. For many years his life had been stunted, misshapen, obscene and hideous; and this begotten creature was its personification”.