"Death of a Pig"

In "Death of a Pig" by E.B White the focus in this story was the relationship between a man and his pig. Compared to the other articles we read I found this story to be the most personal. This story highlights many emotions that we will experience in our lives. Some of those being love, loss, hardship, and compassion. This story also is a representation of the human condition. As humans we attach ourselves to something whether it be a person, object, or animal. We naturally care for something and want to interact with that thing. In this story that interaction is conveyed between the narrator and the pig. The first page shows the process a farmer goes through when raising a pig. There is distance between the animal because he notes that in the end the animal will die. But the animals death brings income and food into the farmers life. The narrator thought of the process as a performance. The narrator noted that sometimes the actors slip up on lines and the performance crashes and burns. This metaphor is exactly what happens in the story. The farmer spends so much time feeding and caring for the pig. Suddenly the pig gets sick and an outright panic emerges. The vet is called and a treatment is given but even that was not enough to save the pig. Later in the story it turns out that the pig probably had internally deep hemorrhagic intears. The narrator had made it seem as if the pigs death was his fault. He started off the story with the end so that we could feel his guilt right from the beginning. In reality there was nothing the vet or the farmer could do to save the pig. This is another human trait and value that is highlighted in the story. Humans and animals eventually die and sometimes they cannot be saved. Humans take death as something that they could have prevented. The grieving process is transitioning from guilt to forgiveness. In reality death is a normal part of life and cannot be prevented. The roles between the farmer and the pig were crossed. As the farmer wanted to keep his distance from the pig he was concerned for its health. The farmer wanted to try anything that could save the pig even if it meant oil and soapy water. The farmer took the pig in as his own and cared for it like a child. In the end the farmer was devastated. The use of sensory details were excellent in this story. The way the narrator described the grave gave me chills. It allowed me as a reader to contemplate death and realize that we will all end up in a grave like this one day. The way the author described he emotions was very convincing for me. I could almost feel his emotions as if the words latched onto my chest. I felt bad for the farmer and remembered times when I lost someone close to me. Overall this story was my favorite so far.