Character: Long Rob

Character: Long Rob of the Mill

General Characteristics

  • Long Rob is a character painted with a palette of strong moral fibre and devotion to his friends.
  • He is a respected member of the community, often considered a voice of reason and sanity amidst the often tumultuous happenings of Kinraddie.
  • Long Rob’s traditional beliefs and love for the land and his horses provide stability and a sense of security for the other characters.

Relationship with Chris

  • Long Rob and Chris share a deep friendship, strengthened through shared times of happiness and university years.
  • His integrity and kind-heartedness make him a comforting figure in Chris’s life, complementing her emotional journey throughout the novel.
  • Long Rob serves as an emotional sounding board for Chris, his counsel often helping her through her emotional and existential crisis.

War and Aftermath

  • Long Rob registers a negligible sense of concern towards the War, showing indifference to the drama of the international scene and believing he will return safely.
  • His death in war comes as an emotional upheaval to Chris as he was her strongest male relation and a representative of the old Mearns community.
  • His life and tragic death demonstrate the cruelty and devastation of the War, effectively snuffing out the ‘song’ of Kinraddie.

Symbolic Value

  • Long Rob’s love for his horses symbolises his roots being firmly in the land, highlighting his connection with the natural environment.
  • His character is also used to emphasise the contrast between the old and new world, symbolising the loss of old Kinraddie with the onset of modernism.
  • He acts as a representative of the progressive yet simple country folk, embodying old world charm and simple happiness linked to the land.

In conclusion, Long Rob is a beacon of moral integrity and nobility in the novel. His love for the land, progressive thinking, and powerful relations with his community and Chris make him an embodiment of the spirit of old Mearns. His death marks the fading melody of the ‘Sunset Song’ and the encroaching silence of modernism.