A Day No Pigs Would Die

Key Facts

full title ·  A Day No Pigs Would Die

author ·  Robert Newton Peck

type of work ·  Autobiographical fiction

genre ·  Rural American Novel

language ·  English

date of first publication ·  1972

publisher of first publication ·  Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

narrator ·  Robert Peck

point of view ·  First person

tone ·  Lighthearted, optimistic

tense ·  Present

setting (time) ·  Late 1930s

setting (place) ·  Learning, Vermont

protagonist ·  Robert Peck

rising action ·  Robert receives a pig as a gift from a neighbor. He and the pig become best friends.

climax ·  Pinky has to be killed so that the family will have enough to eat in the winter.

falling action ·  Robert's father dies.

themes ·  The trials of becoming a man; the difficulty of being an outsider; free will versus expectations; acceptance of the inevitability of life

motifs · Death; education; consistency; possession

symbols ·  Haven's tools; Haven's signature