1. Calum
1.1. "No creature on earth would help it ... because it was crippled"
1.1.1. Calum is victimised by others around him so is similar to the rabbit. He tries to save it due to his caring nature.
1.2. "Chaffinches fluttered around him"
1.2.1. Calum is at one with nature. 'fluttered' suggests his goodness and gentleness.
1.3. "For Calum the tree top was interest enough"
1.3.1. Calum appears childlike and innocent. He feels naturally at home in the tree tops and woods.
1.4. "It was a small wooden doll naked, with a comical red cheeked face, it had one led missing"
1.4.1. Mirror image of himself. Tries to amend the doll. Calum fixing the doll is like him fixing himself as he knows he is not perfect.
1.5. "Calum flung himself upon the deer, clasped it around the neck and tried to comfort it"
1.5.1. Calum cares so much for the deer and tries to save it. He puts his own life at risk as he wishes no pain or suffering upon anyone.
1.6. "Screaming in sympathy"
1.6.1. Calum doesn't understand the pain being caused all around him. Calum is gentle, caring and innocent.
1.7. "Put it out its pain Neil"
1.7.1. Calum sees death as a final option, only to be used in order to do the right thing. The rabbit is in pain, Calum believe by killing it that it will be in a better place.
1.8. "Men, women and children were being slaughtered"
1.8.1. In the first chapter Callum talks about the war and people being killed. Calum cannot understand why innocent people are being killed and believes that it is morally wrong.
2. Lady Runcie Campbell
2.1. "She went down on her knees near the split cones"
2.1.1. LRC physically gets down to care for Calum but also to resemble social class change. LRC has not been true to her Christian values and has now forgotten the social divide in her head.
2.2. "I agree with you as to the culprit"
2.2.1. Turning point as LRC is now completely intolerant of the cone gatherers. She blames Calum for ruining the deer drive and is disgusted by him. Duror made her feel this way.
2.3. "The loudest peal of thunder since the start of the storm"
2.3.1. Pathetic Fallacy. The two storms that are being described are the storm outside and the storm between LRC and the cone gatherers.
2.4. "She heard the report of a gun"
2.4.1. LRC hears Duror kill Calum and himself, this gives her a sigh of relief as she could not handle the burden and the hatred that came with Duror. She began to feel sorry for Calum, she wanted to apologise but is glad he is dead so she doesn't have to.
2.5. "She wept pity, and purified hope, and joy, welled up in her heart"
2.5.1. Even though death has occurred she sees it as a sacrifice as the world order will now happen. Evil is banished from the woods and goodness can now thrive.
2.6. "Practical Christian"
2.6.1. Someone who is Christian when the want to. Goes against fundamental Christian ethic because she cannot believe she is wrong.
2.7. "For God's sake, get out!"
2.7.1. Anyone of a higher class has a power over lover class people and treats them like they are their master. LRC demands the cone gatherers to leave the beach hut rather than asking.
3. Social Class
3.1. "A private fence of giant silver firs"
3.1.1. 'private' - the poor are kept out
3.1.2. 'fence' - division is giant between classes
3.1.3. 'silver' - connotations of wealth
3.2. "Maintain sincerity towards inferiors"
3.2.1. Roderick's grandfather encouraged him to do so.
3.3. "If a subordinate was rewarded his master must be rewarded also, to maintain standards"
3.3.1. Baird
4. Duror
4.1. "Overspreading tree of revulsion"
4.1.1. Duror is self aware and understands he is becoming evil. He lies to LRC to try and get rid of Calum, but he cannot understand why his feelings begin to darken. His madness is unbearable.
4.2. "Like the rotting tree inside him"
4.2.1. Duror's mind is compared to a rotting tree as his thoughts are getting darker and his mind id beginning to decay.
4.3. "He was dead"
4.3.1. Duror kills Calum at the end of the novel. Duror cannot stand Calum due to his deformity and the fact he is not perfect. Duror believes the only thing he can do is kill Calum.
4.4. "In an icy sweat of hatred, with his gun pointing all the time at the feeble minded hunchback"
4.4.1. Near the beginning of the novel Duror lurks in the woods fantasising about murdering Calum, clearly he sees Calum as inferrer; like the animals he kills in the woods.
4.5. "Underground death was creeping along the roots"
4.5.1. On the inside Duror looks okay, on the inside he is withering due to his mental health.
4.6. "Seizing the formers head with one hand, cut the throat savagely with the other"
4.6.1. Duror kills the deer knowing it will not die instantly - imagines wife. Proves evil as he kills innocent creature due to anger within himself.
4.7. "An infant separated from his mother"
4.7.1. There is some pity. Duror feels like something is missing in his life. issues the life he had with his wife when he truly loved her.
4.8. "Duror, with his face shattered and bloody, lay dead"
4.8.1. The finale of the novel shows Duror killing himself. His mental state has driven him mad and he cannot take it anymore. For Duror, the best outcome is for him to kill himself and be at peace.
5. Roderick
5.1. "Humans are more important than dogs"
5.1.1. Roderick treats everyone as equals and is a very fair character.
5.2. "We didn't treat them fairly"
5.2.1. He is innocent and kind, wanting to show some respect. Doesn't believe in social class divide and treating others unfairly.
5.3. "It is one of the very big trees at the end of the park: a silver fir"
5.3.1. Symbolic of class barrier. He wishes to join the cone gatherers and pick cones. He is a fragile and weak character, yet under the surface he is a symbol of hope for the future.
5.4. "You've got a spite against them Duror"
5.4.1. Can see the outcome from Duror. Roderick can see right through him. If people listened to him then the world would be fairer and less violent.