The Cone-Gatherers by Robin Jenkins The Cone Gatherers written by Robin Jenkins covers many topics. The two topics I shall mainly focus on are the eventual insanity of Duror the gamekeeper and also his evil towards Calum and Neil, the two cone gatherers. As I read the book, I discovered that Duror was an evil and disturbed human being who was driven to insanity by his hate towards the cone-gatherers. The evil inside Duror is the book’s focus, although other themes appear throughout the book. Evil is described in Chapter 8 as “a presence like air, infecting everyone”. From the start of the book, Duror’s cold evil is made very clear. “Duror the gamekeeper, in an icy sweat of hatred.” This is referring to one of the opening images when Calum, who loves everything about nature, bends over to pity a poor rabbit caught in the gamekeeper’s trap. It says that Duror keeps his gun targeting the “hunchback” whilst Calum is bent over. Duror’s hate for Calum I assume, is because Calum is happy. Jealousy is apparent when he realises that although Calum is a hunchback, he is happy and loves everything about nature. Whereas, Duror’s marriage is not the happiest because his wife is ill and has to be helped to do everything. In Chapter 2, Duror says that he wishes that he was Calum with a hunched-back and “hellishly beautiful face and idiots mind”. He feels that if he “could cleanse the wood of his defiling presence”, he would be all right and he would be happy again to see that no one lesser than him, was happier than him. I feel that Duror’s hate for the cone-gatherers deepens and becomes more complicated. I think that Duror feels that because the cone-gatherers are his inferior, they should not be happy if he isn’t happy. Although he isn’t technically their boss, he wants to feel power over them and this is the only way he can get the feeling of power he craves for so much. To try to satisfy his craving for power and jealousy, he spreads rumours about the cone-gatherers, and in particular Calum. Before he spoke to Effie Morton about the ‘sightings’, he debates whether he really should spread rumours about them. He does speak to Effie Morton, who is the cook-housekeeper of Lady Runcie-Campbell’s mansion. He tells her that Calum is a pervert who exposes himself in the forest for his own pleasure. An example of this found in chapter 4, “now when he was ... ... middle of paper ... ... cone gatherers was hurt. They would only help Roderick down if Lady Runcie Campbell would come and ask them herself. When she heard, she did as they asked whilst trying to convince herself that she should be angry, but she couldn’t be. When they arrived at the tree she saw Calum’s bag of cones hanging off the tree with cones falling out. The thing that caught her eye though was the drops of blood falling from the tree. Calum had a smile on his face although he was dead. The next thing that distracted her from this unsightly scene was a gunshot. Duror lay on the ground with his face shattered. My assumption is that the reason for Duror killing the cone gatherers was that after he had heard of their stubbornness and refusal to help Roderick, he was irate. Then after killing Calum, he decided that it wasn’t the right thing to do after all. Thus, killing himself. The book was very surreal in parts and also intriguing. Duror had been married to his wife for twenty-five years and for twenty-two of them she had been ill. Pressure all around him could have made him commit murder and suicide. Although, I am fairly certain that the author had hidden meanings within the story.
In most works of literature there is an “evil” character that has conflicting interests with the protagonist. This issue may arise in multiple forms including, but not limited to, abuse and manipulation. In this paper we will be discussing the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s character Iago from Othello and J.K. Rowling’s character Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
Duddy was not born into money, his father, Max, was a taxi driver, and pulled in a low income. Max’s brother, Benjy had money and always played favourites with Duddy’s brother, Lennie by giving him money and opportunities. Duddy always had to struggle for his money, and in one his many struggles he borrows his father’s taxi cab, which is his only source of income, but does not return it for three days. He was delivering pin ball machines that he had sold. When he returns he finds his father is furious at him just taking off with the cab without permission. “They found Max at Eddy’s, and he was furious, ‘who do you think you are?,’ he said ‘that you can run off with my car for three days? Just like that.’” (Richler, 213). Duddy has a way of burning bridges with the people that he most needs, he only thinks of himself, and has no consideration for the feelings of others, even those who does not want to hurt the most. Duddy’s grandfather, also known as the Zeyda, is Duddy’s mentor and the only person Duddy really looks up to, and the one he does not want to hurt, but ends up hurting him the worst. “‘Yvette came to see me.’…. ’she told me what you did,’ Simcha said, ‘And I don’t want a farm here.’ …. ‘I can see what you have planned for me, Duddel. You’ll be good to me. You’d give me everything I wanted.
An excellent main point that can be made through good and evil arrives from Ultima's words, as evil will always tend to fail to defeat good. Throughout the book good and evil face each other multiple times, but a
The search for and importance of family and identity of the Calum Ruadh clan in Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief is significant to the concept of blood being thicker than water. The importance of family, as indicated in No Great Mischief, is very apparent in regards to the main point of prominence in this deeply emotional Gaelic- Canadian tale.
The ending of the Blood Meridian is both abstruse and compelling. The setting when the kid first walks into town (pp.324) seems almost too familiar. This town could be any number of different towns located throughout the Midwest, but it seems strangely related to the town of Nacogdoches. The Kid, once thought to be on some sort of migratory movement to the West, has now completed a full circle and has returned to the place of his birth. Birth not in the physical sense of being delivered from his mother’s womb, but rather the Kid experienced a rebirth in the form of one of the judge’s “great clay voodoo dolls (pp.13).';
The Crucible preaches an uncommon sermon where it warns readers about the power of fear. It teaches how far the good can be pushed before they become evil, and how heaven and hell can wear disguises. It teaches how complicated people can become before they realize what side they are on and where they wish to be. Above all else, The Crucible teaches that right and wrong are very easy to confuse when one does not know what secrets lay waiting to be uncovered.
predators “preying upon the people”. Jurgis soon after joins a union and learns the web of
The book begins with the accusations of ancient writers such as Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Josephus, and Suetonius who all claim that Caligula suffered from insanity. It is apparent that the authors do not believe this allegation and throughout the book, they attempt to prove their theory. They instead portray him as more of an evil genius with ulterior motives for his actions. They note that Suetonius suggests that Caligula committed incest with his sisters but use the fact that Seneca and Philo of Alexandria do not, as a way to discredit the notion.
Humans are curious people, knowing how things work and knowing how things fit together has always interested our minds. When we are presented with an idea that we don’t know we want to solve it. That is exactly the purpose of mystery and detective stories. Mystery stories capture our attention and makes us strive to find out and understand the story and this is why we keep coming back to them.
(n.d.)). 50 cent and Macbeth know that the beast was to be present in order to create greatness. The character shows in the form of music and plays which displays how 50 cent and Macbeth wanted to knock down those who are in their way. Understanding the men they had become exceeded the milk of human kindness. 50 cent go to say “Now these pu**y ni**as putting money on my head go on and get your refund motherF***, I ani’t dead” (50 cent, 2003). 50 cent knew he was being watched by rivals, but he created this savage exterior that overpowered fear that might have lurked in his subconscious. Then refers to the biblical text which interested me “In the bible it says what goes around comes around ““hommo” shot me, three weeks later he got shot down”” (50 cent, 2003) meaning revenge does not miss any one and karma is either pleasant or painful depending on the action. Macbeth’s savagery is understanding judgement around him that can lead to karma effect of action. Macbeth goes to speak “We still have judgement here; we but teach bloody instruction, which being taught return to plague the inventor” (Act 1, Scene 7). The perplexing notion that Macbeth’s storyline will betray his fellow men and find himself with the thought of evil. The same immoral action that presents Macbeth to become thane of glamis, thane of cawdor, and king will have facing a major downfall. Having savaged like qualities only works for a strong willed
Raymond Carver, the author of “Cathedral” uses characterization to describe the main character, the narrator’s development in the story upon meeting a blind man. This blind man, Robert, unintentionally changes the narrator’s perspective on life and on himself. The narrator first starts off as an arrogant, close minded individual who later opens his mind and is introduced to new perspectives of life. The most important element used in this writing is characterization because it makes the reader change perspectives on how the narrator develops throughout the story and deeply goes into a lot of detail to support the narrator’s development. good thesis, but the wording is a little bland and lifeless
What exactly is evil? Is it a tangible object or just an unperceivable idea? There are many theories to these two simple questions anywhere from a physical evil presence to one’s personal concept of what is evil to them. In literature, evil can take many different forms, including physical evil, inner evil, and a combination of the two. No matter what mode it takes though, the presence of evil in literature has always been influential in the plot and always has the same ending: death.
Raymond Carver, in his short story Cathedral uses a first-person narrator, whose point of view is very much limited and flawed. The narrator in Cathedral has full use of all his senses, unlike the blind man, Robert, who is introduced very early in the story. When comparing the two again, however, Robert is the character that is open to new ideas and willing to experience the joys of life, while the narrator limits himself due to his close-minded thinking. It brings up the question, who is truly blind in the story? Is it a physical ailment or a mental block? The narrator is never given a name in the story, making him the most impersonal character in the story. This also adds to the fact that the narrator is highly ignorant about his surroundings and has a one-sided, self-absorbed view of the world. The perception of the narrator leaves much to be inferred in many points in the story, and at first, it seems pointless to have such a closed off character and the one telling his point of view. I would like to hear the story from the wife’s point of view or Robert’s. Ultimately, however, the limited point of view of the narrator shows where the true ignorance in the world lies.
He is thankful for all her help when he’s not around. Aunt Alexandra comes to stay with them for a while because she feels the children need a mother figure. Her reason for being there confuses the children because they feel that Calpurnia been a mother figure for them; Their aunt doesn’t feel the same about Calpurnia.
Alistar Macleod’s “No Great Mischief” is a novel full of constant recollections of the Clann Calum Ruadh’s past and genealogy and relating it to the history of Canada; everything that happened in the family’s past effected the life they live currently. This is evident in the characters Alexander McDonald, his brother Calum, the different groups of people and all the connections they have with their family’s past and connections they have with the Clann Calum Ruadh. Alexander is the main character and is the one explaining the story of the past in a very short time period in the present and he connects the family lines throughout history. Calum, the older brother, was left to take care of himself and his siblings at a young age, which results in his drunkenness at the present. Included in the story, at many different time periods, are various groups of people, such as the French Canadians, the English, and the Migrant workers who make an impact on the characters of the story. The reoccurring phrase “Always look after your own blood” (14) was passed down the family line and is questioned and demonstrated by the characters.