A Day No Pigs Would Die Themes

No doubt about it: over the course of A Day No Pigs Would Die, we watch our narrator grow up. When the story starts out, Rob's main concerns consist of being teased by other kids at school and gett...

Death is a constant reality in the world of Rob and his family. As farmers, the Pecks see first-hand how closely death is connected to life: the death of a rabbit allows a hawk and its young to sur...

Papa sure is a man principles. It seems like no matter what Rob is thinking about, Papa has some words of wisdom to lay down to help him go about doing it right. Since the Pecks are Shakers living...

In A Day No Pigs Would Die, doing your duty is a priority. (And yes, we chuckled a little when we wrote "doing your duty.") In the Shaker way, it seems, every individual has a "mission," something...

Community sure isn't simple in A Day No Pigs Would Die. For one thing, there are lots of different communities, from the townspeople to the nearby farmers to the kids at school. But here's the thin...

Poverty is a constant reality in the Peck family. Sure, Rob's age in some ways allows him to escape the drudgery it imposes on his father. But the lack of money to buy things that other people take...

For a guy who never learned to read or write, Papa sure puts a lot of stock in education. He is absolutely adamant that Rob should continue in school and "get all the teaching [he] can hold" (12.10...