The Cone Gatherers

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The Cone Gatherers, by Robin Jenkins and published in 1955, is a powerful examination of good and evil. The novel is set during World War II and on a large Scottish estate where two brothers, Calum (a simple minded hunchback) and Neil, are employed as cone-gatherers, harvesting pine cones. The harmony of their life together is shadowed by the obsessive hatred of Duror, the gamekeeper, who has since childhood disliked anything he finds "misshapen".

Throughout the novel, the obsession Duror has for the cone-gatherers grows stronger, leading to the climax of the novel. The novel comes to a climax when Lady Runcie Campbell, the aristocrat who owns the estate, discovers Calum hanging dead from a tree, having been shot by Duror, who subsequently shot himself.

The book is used in Scottish secondary schools, where it is sometimes taught as part of the Higher English curriculum as the required piece of Scottish literature.

Conflict is a strong theme throughout the novel.

[edit] External links

• Notes on The Cone Gatherers for students