Death of a Pig

Upon reading E.B White's death of a pig, I was surprised by the amount of compassion a farmer would show for his animal that he knew was going to be slaughtered anyway. I feel as though the farmer knew the pig was going to die, yet he wanted the eventual death to be quick and not prolonged as it was in the story. I felt moved as I read the details of the farmer going out to personally care for the pig, and especially at the part where the pig winces in pain when rubbed. The worst feeling for any pet owner is seeing your pet in pain and not being its usual happy self, and I feel that this story really captured that image of the owner caring for its animal friend. I also felt that White did an excellent job of describing the transition from the symbiotic relationship of the farmer as he would care for the pig while it lived and benefit from it in death, to the more personal relationship as he became attached to the pig . I also found it interesting how in the end of the story the townspeople felt sympathy for the farmer mainly because I believe they didn't understand the farmer's true feelings. I believe they most likely sympathized with the fact that he lost a main source of food for the winter to come and not that he actually lost a companion he had grown close to.