Sofie Toft

Engelsk
GØ
Killing the pig – essay  
 
"Help me, boy," said Papa. "It's time." It can be dangerous to grow up poor and you might have to
grow up faster than you expect. The main character is Robert who is a little boy on a poor farm who
must kill his pig out of their desperation of poverty. Killing the pig is an American novel from 1972
written by Robert Newton Peck, who wrote story as a semi autobiographic novel.  
Rob and his father had to kill robs pet pig because of hunger, that turned rob into a man. 
 
The narrator of the novel Killing the pig is 1. Person narrative voice. An example could be (page 2.
ll. 18-19): “I tried to down a big bowl of hot steaming oatmeal, but it tasted like soap. And the fresh
warm milk from Daisy's pail was flat. I couldn't swallow it”. There are many other examples in the
text, but that is just one of them. The narrator use “I” many times, to tell us that it is 1. Person. 
The 1. Person in the text tells his own story and it is from his perspective. What we read is his mind
and experiences. He is right there in the moment, describing what he sees.  
 
The story is a cold dark morning on a December day and happening in the late 20th century on a
farm. We find that on (page 1 l. 15) that it happens on a cold, dark morning in December. You can
tell that the story takes place at the end of the 20th century. There are a lot of other examples such
as (page 1 ll. 9 - 10). The only way the farther can provide food is by hunting in the wild nature.
The supermarkets that we use now. Was not an option back then. This way it shows that the story
was in the 20th century.  
 
 All in all, 4 people occur in the story. The main character is Robert, the father, the mother, and the
Aunt Carrie. And the most importin character the pig Pinky. We see signs of the people in the story
on (Page 3 ll. 24 – 25) "Papa," I said, "I don't think I can." "That's not the issue, Rob. We have to."
Standing up, I moved away from Pinky as Papa went to her head. (Page 2 ll. 25): I didn't ask what.
I just knew. And so did Mama and Aunt Carrie, because as Papa and I were getting our coats on,
they both came over and pretended to help button my coat. Robert is the main character, because
he is the one that in the end of the story learned a lesson. The father helped him a lot because he is
the one that made him grow up. He taught him what life is about. 
 
 
Sofie Toft
Engelsk
GØ
The main theme in the Novel is that sometimes you must do some hard things in life. Not everybody agrees
with it. Because it may seem wrong. But we must learn, at some point in life, that the world we live in is not
as picture perfect as we may think. We found several examples of this, but the most important one is on
(page 3 ll. 23 - 39). And this line: "That's what being a man is all about, boy. It's just doing what's
got to be done." The father says that killing is part of life and that you must take it like a man and face it
all.