A Day No Pigs Would Die

I buy books on Amazon through my friend Ron -- my name is Collette aka Coco Mojo.I read this book many years ago as a young adult and it sickened me. This is, after all, a true story -- but it reads like a nightmare. (The "yokel" style of writing is annoying, but that's the least of my complaints!)First there is the terrible, senseless torture/death of a sweet, trusting family dog named Hussy, who is thrown into a barrel with a weasel. She is horribly injured and then is shot, in order to "put her out of her misery."Then there's the graphic rape of the female pig Pinky (and RAPE it was -- Pinky had no desire as she was NOT in heat, and hence was unwilling. She defended herself by attacking the boar, but the farmer struck her a sharp blow to force her to submit. As an aside: In factory farming, breeding sows are restrained by contraptions called "rape racks"). After the rape, the owner of the stud pig said, "Next time, she'll welcome the big boy."Disgusting. I don't think any woman wants to hear this dismissive line, as (under patriarchy) this social evil happens and ALL women are at risk. So -- this gratuitous line didn't need to be included in the book at all. We don't need to hear about the bloody painful rape and then the comment, which is reminiscent of the evil done to women under patriarchy -- an evil that women are often blamed for or which is trivialized through jokes or comments about how women "really do want it." Also, this graphic depiction of a brutal rape is entirely inappropriate for young children to read.Alas, poor Pinky! She is murdered in the end...tragic and hideous, and the boy who raised her (did he love her? the author said he had "owned" her, but had he ever LOVED her? For his sake, I hope he never loved her -- can you imagine being expected to help slaughter an animal you truly LOVE?) is made by his father to hold the pig as he cuts her throat and carves her up! No wonder boys learn to repress their feelings -- it is emotionally traumatic and horrendously abusive to make a boy participate in the brutal killing of his pet! What kind of father would do this to his son? What had happened to this father when HE was a boy, to make him so calloused?The father must have known his son cared for the pig, as the boy spent so much time with her. The morning Pinky is to die, the boy protests, "Papa, I don't think I can," but the father isn't moved. The boy describes how he "hates his father for killing her" -- he feels his grief and rage but then quickly REPRESSES his true feelings -- it IS his FATHER, after all! He is forced to repress and to "suck it up," in order to "be a man." Sickening. And we wonder why boys grow up DAMAGED, unable to feel and express their feelings, unable to empathize and communicate and to truly nurture others. We wonder why boys grow into men who then become cannon fodder in wars... which men often join to prove what "real men" they are, macho and hardened and tough and oh so strong.Boys and men are damaged through no fault of their own -- as Terrence Real (psychologist) says in his book, How Can I Get Through To You?, on page 78: "The way we 'turn boys into men' is through injury."After reading this sad, horrifying book about a boy and his pig, I totally agree with what Terrence Real is saying! (People who support what happened to this boy...ask yourself, what if it had been the boy's DOG instead of his pig, that had been slaughtered and butchered with the help of the boy? Wouldn't you say that that would be cruel to both boy and dog? But, maybe the boy loved his pig AS MUCH as if she'd been a dog, only then to be made to help slaughter his beloved friend.)The horror of this book has never left me, and the understanding of why men are so damaged, in our world. I am hardly alone in my sentiments, here: In the book, Children's Literature in the Elementary School, Third Edition Updated by Charlotte S. Huck, pgs. 396-387 states, "In an article titled 'The Cult of Kill in Adolescent Literature,' Jean Kelty point out that sex-role stereotyping for boys is frequently found in animal stories. In books such as Old Yeller and The Yearling the main character must kill the very animal that they have loved the most as their initiation into manhood. The pattern is repeated in Peck's A Day No Pigs Would Die; the boy becomes a man the day he helps his father kill Pinky, the boy's pet pig. As the boy kisses his father's bloody hands, his father tells him: 'That's what being a man is all about, boy. It's just doing what's got to be done.' Girls are conditioned early to be dependent little girls; Kelty also questions the way in which some of our 'best' literature conditions boys to be hard and strong."I, like Jean Kelty and Charlotte Huck, question it as well -- BIG TIME! (P.S. I have a friend of many years who grew up on a remote farm in a Canadian province. As a boy, he saw much blood and brutality towards the farm animals at the hands of his father. Also, this boy was encouraged to set trap lines for pelts. He is now a vegetarian/vegan and has utterly DENOUNCED all such cruelty to animals in his book, Fruit: The Ultimate Diet by Rejean Durette.)

This is one of my all time favorite books. It is so poignant and moving!

I was first introduced to this book in 7th grade (I'm 41 now). Well written, to the point and very funny at times. It's ultimately a heart wrencher, but it teaches many good lessons about life, morals and what growing up is about. It's touching, wonderful and unforgettable. Get it for your kids (the few that still read these days). Read it together. Share the love.And if it doesn't make you cry, you were born without a heart.

I never expected to enjoy this book. I ordered it because it was required for my daughter's ELA 7 online curriculum but I got curious & read it. OMG. Wonderful book. I wish I could find the two books contingent to it on Amazon.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book because of the examples of survival as a farmer. Words of wisdom flowed through each chapter developing family virtues in a boys life growing up on a farm. I had never heard of Shaker people. I looked it up to learn more and discovered there is only one group left in the U.S.. I don't know why because their beliefs were solid, proud, hard working , Christian people. Their beliefs were to be self sufficient, honest, and no frills. If you enjoy reading about the old days of survival. Read this.

I bought this book as a gift for my granddaughter. I used it for years when teaching literature to junior high students. I always challenge them to read the first chapter. I've read it out loud and tough inner city boys have fought back tears. If you use it for teaching you need to give some historical background.

A Day No Pigs Would Die is a well written book which draws you in from the first page. It is a story of a simple life that is anything but simple. There is humor and pathos. The youngster in the book is faced with many hard choices, and it is fascinating to enter the journey as he makes decisions as to how he will act or react. In my estimation it is suitable for ages 10 to the end of life. It is a book that once read will not be forgotten.

It hurts to read about the harsh realities people faced as farmers - trying to train a dog to hunt weasels to the point that the dog is mortally wounded, not being able to keep a non- productive pig for the joy of it - real life and death. But the beauty of strong respectful human relationships triumph in this story of remarkable human beings.

Young Robert Peck has to grow up quickly, learning from his father farming ways that will stand him in good stead. Follow his story in A part of the Sky an even better read.

Excellent

This story is well written and worth the read for anyone wanting to understand 1900s American rural life, farm life and subtle immigration trends. The read is smooth, easy, but with plenty of detail and descriptions to bring the story to life and make the reader feel that they are living it. Simple, but very informative and impressionable. The quality of the book is normal for paperbacks in this price range. Print is easy to read, size comfortable, cover normal.

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これは、最初に訳本を読んでいたんだけど、とても好きな本なので、原文もゲット。改めて英文で読んで、やっぱり最後は泣いてしまった。生きていく喜びだけではなくて、辛さとか、せつなさとか。そういうものが沢山詰まっている物語なんだけど、読み終えて心に残るのは悲壮感で はない。主人公の少年を通して描かれている、親子の絆や、様々な出来事は、いろんなことを 考えさせてくれる。本当の豊かさや、本当に大事なこと。皆、最期は土に還る。そして誰も思い出さなくなる。それでも自分がここにいる意味を、少年はこの物語の最後にちゃんとみつけたんだと思う。