Duror is the gamekeeper who falls into despair and insanity due to his wife's illness and his low self-esteem. He transfers his feelings of love for his employer Lady Runcie-Campbell and grows to hate Calum, the hunchbacked cone-gatherer, seeing himself in Calum's deformity and unhappy life. After a deer drive, Duror no longer wants to send Calum away but rather keep him in the woods to also experience suffering. In the end, Duror murders Calum and commits suicide in the woods.