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Sunset Song Notes - Chapter 1 - Ploughing
Sentence Structure
In Sunset Song, the sentences tend to be very long and detailed, almost with a sense of
rambling like you might do in a conversation
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The order of the words in the sentences are commonly changed about, which means that
the rhythmic flow of the sentences are altered constantly
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Gibbon also bends the rules of the english language by begin sentences with “and” and
“but”
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Language
Gibbon uses vivid descriptive language such as metaphors, a range of Scottish
onomatoepia (such as “shooming” or “skirted”) and similes to convey accurate descriptions
of people and objects
...
This idea of conflict/contrast is a
recurring theme throughout the book
...
Due to
these principles, we see that Chae has no regard for the consequences of his actions and

will stand up for what he believes in
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Chae yells at the driver, immediately seeing the man as “dirt” and is not afraid to
tell the man what he thinks of him
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He stays an idealist, believing in
change and revolution
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However, whereas Chae is an idealist
believing in change and revolution, Long Rob is a realist, and believes things will never
change
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They are also a good
example of the saying “two sides of the same coin”
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One of these is her mother, who was born and raised around and on the land
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Jean Guthrie is a nature
lover, and has a strong connection to the land including the noises and the smells
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Jean is where Chris gets her Scottish Chris side from,
although John Guthrie is a role in Scottish Chris and therefore, we cannot say that Jean
Guthrie was the only influence on Scottish Chris
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He brings out the English side of
Chris, persuading her to continue with her education, read lots of books and stay smarter
than her peers
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This is introduced the moment we first are properly introduced to
John Guthrie in the novel, explaining that Chris’ parents met on the land
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We very quickly learn that John is in
no shape or form a romantic individual
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John is also very infatuated with Jean’s hair (“gold it was and long”) and
is one of the things that arouse the man
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This is described as being the
corruption of the church
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This turns
something beautiful and expressive into a hardship, that also helps lead to the harsh
treatment of Jean from John
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Throughout the years, it is shown in the novel that John is still attracted to Jean despite
hating himself for sinning against the Lord
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As the reader explore the relationship of the two parents, we start to truly see John’s dark
side and corruption from the church, as witness when he gets angry at Jean for saying the
name “Jehovah”
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The beating of Will
During the first chapter, John Guthrie is shown to be heroic during the incident involving
his horse, Nell, and a fatal injury
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His only thought is that he
needs to end the horse’s suffering as he cares for her intently
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This shows the
readers his dedication to his animals and how much he cares for them
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John, hearing the word, takes no time in rushing across the farm towards Will, and gets
aggressive very quickly
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He further tells Will that if he ever hears him speak the
Lord’s name again he would “lib [him] like a lamb”
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Juxtaposition
These two events with John Guthrie are an example of juxtaposition
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In this case, the two contrasting events are John being very compassionate to his
horse, showing some heroism and the other event is John beating his own son to a pulp
just for saying a word he didn’t know the meaning of
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Chris Guthrie
The main antagonist of the novel is Chris Guthrie, a young Scottish girl who is constantly
torn between two halves of her
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One half of Chris is deemed as the English Chris is the intelligent side of
Chris, the side that wants to constantly be learning and loves reading and all the academic
things in life, while the other side of Chris is deemed as the Scottish Chris who loves
nothing more than the land, and constantly is wishing to smell the fresh air or walk through
the grass
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She speaks using the Scottish tongue
and slang, but it is also intersting to note that she can swap between using the Scottish
language and the English language
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Despite her father being very corrupted and Chris growing up with corruption surrounding
her, SHE IS NOT CORRUPT
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She does remember her father telling her to “boil an egg” for her mother and this is
shadowed by Chris later on in the book when she tells Ewan to boil her an egg as she is
giving birth
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The song mentioned throughout the novel is “Flowers of the
Forest”, a traditional Scottish song normally sang at traditional events such as memorials,
weddings or deaths
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This also ties in with the idea of
prejudice between the Scottish and English
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The song references the Scottish icon William Wallace (not Mel Gibson) and describes the
treachery and cowardice of the English
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He is described as
screaming at a middle class woman with the simile “roars like a lion”
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They also have a large link with Chris as every time she visits them, we can see her
getting calmer throughout the use of her dialect and punctuation
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The standing stones are the idea of bringers of civilisation as they are thought to have
been brought from Egypt and apparently marks the end of their working terms
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The stones scare Guthrie although he might not fully understand them
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The younger Reverend Colquhoun understands the significance of the standing stones
and he is the one who makes them into the war memorial
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One of
these is Colquhoun (who is the father of the Colqhuhoun that Chris falls in love with at the
end of the novel)
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He will constantly change his
views throughout the book to please others and to make himself appear more likeable to
other characters throughout
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His physical appearance is described as being very bull like, e
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Bulls are also known for their sexual appetite which becomes easy to spot amongst
Guthrie when a new sinister lust for his daughter is revealed to the readers
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She knows the man has
little principles but does not quite relise he has none at all
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The only person to fully see through Gibbon’s
act is Long Rob
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He and his wife also show a lot of PDA which was uncommon and despite Chris seening it
as perfectly acceptable, the town are shocked
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This is another example of juxtaposition, as the Reverend Gibbon is a humorous character
but has ended up corrupting John Guthrie with terrible thoughts of incest that are in no way
humorous or comedic
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The sun is described as shining and this is supposed to
represent the end of Chris’ childhood
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He claims to be ashamed
for her and tells her to pull her clothes back on
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This is when we start to realise that Guthrie’s love for
his daughter has crossed a line and was now not right at all
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Chris realises this and is disturbed, so she discusses
it with her mother
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End of Chapter
Chris is back to the beginning of the chapter, laying on the ground by the standing stones
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She hears her
younger brothers calling for her and at first she thinks it was out of excitement before she

realised that “they were calling her name like the cowing of calves that had lost their
mother”
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Just as this is revealed, the rain beings again and the drought is over
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They start off in the present, then the rest of the
chapter is a flashback, and the last few parts of the chapter is back to the present
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