The Cone Gatherers

Question 1

Finish the quote below:

“For Calum the tree-top was interest enough;…

Answer 1

…in it he was as indigenous as a squirrel”

Question 2

What’s the beginning of this quote:

“…in it he was as indigenous as a squirrel”?

Answer 2

“For Calum the tree-top was interest enough; in it he was as indigenous as a squirrel”

Question 3

Finish the quote and state the themes associated:

“the overspreading tree of revulsion growing inside him;…

Answer 3

…but he could not tell the force which made it grow”

Good vs Evil
Evil

Question 4

What’s the beginning of this quote:

“…but he could not tell the force which made it grow.”?

Answer 4

“the overspreading tree of revulsion growing inside him; but he could not tell the force which made it grow”

Question 5

Finish the quote:

“Screaming in sympathy, heedless of the dangers of being shot…”

Answer 5

…Calum flung himself upon the deer, clasped it round the neck, and tried to comfort it.”

Question 6

What’s the start of this quote:

“…Calum flung himself upon the deer, clasped it round the neck, and tried to comfort it.”?

Answer 6

“Screaming in sympathy, heedless of the dangers of being shot, Calum flung himself upon the deer, clasped it round the neck, and tried to comfort it.”

Question 7

Finish this quote:

“But the hunchback in some dreadful way had become necessary…”

Answer 7

…to him…his going therefore had to become a destruction, an agony, a crucifixion”

Question 8

What’s the beginning of this quote:

“..to him…His going therefore had to become a destruction, an agony, a crucifixion”?

Answer 8

“But the hunchback in some dreadful way had become necessary to him…His going therefore had to become a destruction, an agony, a crucifixion”

Question 9

Finish this quote:

“His arms were loose and dangled in macabre gestures of supplication…”

Answer 9

…Though he smiled, he was dead.”

Question 10

What’s the beginning of this quote:

“…Though he smiled, he was dead.”

Answer 10

“His arms were loose and dangled in macabre gestures of supplication. Though he smiled, he was dead.”

Question 11

As Duror is walking to a bar after visiting the doctor, what does he feel ‘in the mood for’?
(Full quote)

Answer 11

“… as he walked slowly but steadily along the pier road back into the village he felt in a mood for murder, rape or suicide.”

Question 12

What are the two things Roderick says to his mother, Lady Runcie-Campbell, regarding the Cone Gatherers?

Answer 12

1: “We didn’t treat them fairly”
2: “Human beings are more important than dogs”

Question 13

What does Neil say to Calum after the pair are kicked out from the beach storm that demonstrates the hierarchy in the estate?

Answer 13

Neil: “We could have perished in the storm for all she cared. Was that not murder?”

Question 14

In the beginning, what are the Cone Gatherers allegedly plucking which gives connotations of good and innocence?

Answer 14

“They seemed to be plucking nuts of sunshine.”

Question 15

What does Roderick feel Duror is when Roderick’s on his pilgrimage and why is it significant it’s Roderick who thinks this?

Answer 15

“The most evil presence of all”

Question 16

In the beginning of the novel, Duror is outside the Cone Gatherers hut. What is Calum’s reaction (give quote)?

Answer 16

“Calum, demoralised as always by hatred, had cowered against the hut, hiding his face”

Question 17

After the deer drive, Neil is frustrated with Lady-Runcie Campbell. What is the quote that indicates this best, with reference to the dogs in the estate?

Answer 17

“Who does the lady think she is, that she orders us about like dogs? But if we were dogs, she’d treat us better than what she does. Aren’t the kennels at the big house bigger than our hut?”

Question 18

After the cone gatherers are expelled from the beach hut, Roderick and his mother are having an argument. What does Lady-Runcie Campbell say to her son that shows the class division mindset she possess?

Answer 18

” They are our inferiors; they would be the first to admit it themselves… It is our duty to find an attitude to them, and to all like them, which recognises the inferiority but not offensively”

Question 19

In the beginning of chapter four, Duror is speaking to lady-Runcie Campbell. In the chapter, we are informed of her father’s job and his love for justice. What does he “bequeath” in his daughter?

Answer 19

“Her father the judge had bequeathed to her a passion for justice… and a determination to see right done, even at the expense of rank or pride.”

Question 20

What is the quote in the very beginning of the novel that foreshadows the theme of conflict and introduces the setting of war?

Answer 20

“A destroyer steamed seawards.”