Papa was breathing the way no man or beast should breathe. I had never seen any man work as fast. I knew his hands must of been just about froze off; but he kept working, with no gloves. At last he stopped, pushing me away from the pork and turning me around so as my back was to it. He stood close by, facing me, and his whole body was steaming wet with work. I couldn't help it. I started thinking about Pinky. My sweet big clean white Pinky who followed me all over. She was the only thing I ever really owned. The only thing I could point to and say…mine. But now there was no Pinky. Just a sopping wet lake of red slush. So I cried.
"Oh, Papa. My heart's broke."
"So is mine," said Papa. "But I'm thankful you're a man." (14.28-30)
So what makes Rob "a man" in Papa's estimation? Surely not simply that he took part in killing Pinky, right? No, it's much more than that—it's that he did what he had to do, despite how badly he didn't want to do it. That, to Papa, is what manhood is all about.
Quote 2
Mr. Tanner and his wife came in the black rig, with a pair of black horses. I went out to meet them.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. Tanner."
"Robert, my name is Benjamin Franklin Tanner. All my neighbors call me Ben. I think two men who are good friends ought to front name one another."
"And I'm Bess," his wife said, "from here on." (15.26-29)
Ah, symbolism. The community, as represented by Mr. Tanner, formally recognizes Rob's new role as head of the household. And how does he do it? By telling Rob he can call him by his first name, just like any grown-up man would.
Then we went outside and sat on a bench on the westerly side of the barn, me still holding the kitten on my lap, and we watched the sun go down. The pink became purple, and the purple turned to what Mama called a Shaker gray.
"Papa," I said, "of all the things in the world to see, I reckon the heavens at sundown has got to be my favorite sight. How about you?"
"The sky's a good place to look," he said. "And I got a notion it's a good place to go." (7.28-30)
Rob doesn't know it yet (and neither do we, of course), but in retrospect, it seems that maybe Papa already knows he's not long for this world. What parts of this passage show us that he's already thinking about the approach of his own death?
When I got back outside, Papa was home from butchering. His clothes were a real mess.
"Papa," I said, "after a whole day at rendering pork, don't you start to hate your clothes?"
"Like I could burn 'em and bury 'em."
"But you wear a leather apron when you kill pork. How come you still get so dirty?"
"Dying is a dirty business. Like getting born." (12.4-8)
Just another reminder of the Peck family's reliance on Papa's job as a killer of pigs. That's right—more connections between dying and "getting born": both messy, untidy facts of life.
He was always up before I was. And when I went out to the barn that morning, all was still. He was lying on the straw bed that he rigged for himself, and I knew before I got to him that he was dead.
"Papa." I said his name just once. "It's all right. You can sleep this morning. No cause to rouse yourself. I'll do the chores. There's no need to work any more. You just rest." (15.2-3)
Papa's death, unlike the violence and brutality that characterizes many of the scenes in the book, is presented to us as a calm, peaceful thing, almost welcome when it finally comes. What is the author trying to suggest anything about how he sees death? And do you agree?
"But you're a good butcher, Papa. Even Mr. Tanner said you were the best in the country."
"He say that?"
"Honest, Papa. He said he could look at half a pork and tell it was you that boiled and scraped it. He said you even had your own trade mark. When you kill pork and twain it, head to rump, you always do what no other man does. You even divide the tail, and half it right to the end. He said this on the way to Rutland."
"I'm sure glad to be famed for something." (12.62-65)
Although he might not be the richest man in town, or even the best farmer, Papa can lay claim to being the very best butcher. Even an ex-piggy's tail shows how dedicated he is. Why? Because he believes in the importance of doing a good job.
"I think I may need a new winter coat."
"Better speak to your mother to start stitching."
"I want a store coat. I need one."
"So do I. But one thing to learn, Rob, is this. Need is a weak word. Has nothing to do with what people get. Ain't what you need that matters. It's what you do. And your mother'll do you a coat." (12.77-80)
When you're as poor as the Pecks are, you need to know the difference between what you need and what you simply want.
"Jacob Henry said that in one store in Learning they let you wear all the coats you want before you buy one. And you can put on any coat you want and walk around the store in it, even if you don't buy it. But you know what I'd do. I'd buy a red and black one, like Jacob Henry's. It would be my coat forever, and I'd never wear it out."
"Reckon you'd outgrow it before you outwear it."
"Probably would. But I sure do want a coat like that. Why do we have to be Plain People? Why do we, Papa?"
"Because we are." (12.83-86)
Wow, even the idea of wearing a fancy store-bought coat around in the store is enough to make Rob's head spin. But Papa knows that first and foremost, they are plain people, and they need to keep their priorities straight.
Quote 9
All this talk of hogs and dollars and meat and banks was rolling around inside my head with no direction. It didn't quite sound Christian to me, but then I suppose that everyone in the world didn't all live strict by the Book of Shaker.
"But we're Plain People, sir. It may not be right to want for so much."
"Nonsense, boy. Bess and I are fearing Christians, same as you." (13.68-70)
Rob isn't quite sure if it's okay to think about all the good things that may come his way as a result of Pinky's potential piglets. (Say that three times fast—we dare you.) Humility of all kinds—in dress, behavior, and even in thought—is one of the principles of the Peck family.
Quote 10
"Come on, Pinky," I said. "It's getting close to chore time. I got to feed you and Daisy and Solomon. And if'n I'm not to home come chore time, Hell won't have it. Papa gets mighty stirred up over that. Right he should. Chores are my mission, not his." (5.33)
Like Papa, Rob has his own mission in life. Kind of makes you look at chores a whole new way when you think of them as your "mission," huh?
"Well, you be friends with Mr. Tanner. Neighbors and all. But we keep this fence up like it was war. I guess that humans are the only things on earth that take everything they own and fence it off."
"Not true," Papa said.
"Animals don't put up fences."
"Yes, they do. In the spring, a female robin won't fly to a male until he owns a piece of the woods. He's got to fence it off."
"I didn't know that."
"Lots of times when you hear that old robin sing, what he's singing about is…keep off my tree. That whistle you hear is his fence." (3.7-12)
Papa says that fences—that is, rules and boundaries to keep people's business separated—are not only useful, but natural. And hey, Shmoop likes birds as much as the next person. If the robins do it, it's definitely good enough for us. (Except for the whole pooping on people's heads thing.)
"Then it isn't like war."
"It's a peaceable war. If I know Benjamin Franklin Tanner, he'd fret more than me if his cows found my corn. He'd feel worse than if it was the other way round."
"He's a good neighbor, Papa."
"And he wants a fence to divide his and mine, same as I do. He knows this. A fence sets men together, not apart." (3.17-20)
Part of being a good neighbor, to Papa, is making sure that you have structures in place to keep you and yours out of your neighbor's area. Sure, maybe bringing some brownies over once in a while will win you points, but generally, Papa thinks you should give people their space.
"Papa, you recall what we did when that old cow stayed next to us all night?"
"Come firstlight, we milked a bit of her. So you could have a cup of fresh warm milk for breakfast. And I could have a spoonful for my coffee."
"Was that stealing, Papa?"
"Not hardly. Were it my cow, I'd share with others. And we didn't take but a glass. It weren't as though we stripped her dry." (3.96-99)
When you need help (or when you need a quick cup of milk in the morning), you can reasonably expect a little help from your neighbors. Is this idea unique to Papa in the book?
Quote 14
"Is that really your little girl in the coffin?"
"It is, Robert. And if it's all right with you and your pa, I'm going to bury her in Hillman land. With a Hillman name."
"I guess that's proper," I said, and sort of went off to sleep. (8.63-65)
Hillman is setting things right by finally claiming the dead baby as his own, accepting her publicly into the community of his family. By not owning up to the relationship initially, he had committed a sin against God, yes, but also against the rules of the community. Double whammy.
Quote 15
All this talk of hogs and dollars and meat and banks was rolling around inside my head with no direction. It didn't quite sound Christian to me, but then I suppose that everyone in the world didn't all live strict by the Book of Shaker.
"But we're Plain People, sir. It may not be right to want for so much."
"Nonsense, boy. Bess and I are fearing Christians, same as you." (13.68-70)
Rob is afraid that having too much in the way of material comfort will disagree with his standing as a good Shaker. We're going to bet he's not in any danger of that anytime soon. P.S. Check out our section on "Setting" for more on the Shaker way of life.
"Papa, do you believe all the Shaker Law?"
"Most. I'm glad it's all writ down in the Book of Shaker."
"How do you know it's all writ down, Papa? You can't read."
Papa looked at me before he spoke.
"No, I cannot read. But our Law has been read to me. And because I could not read, I knew to listen with a full heart. It might be the last and only time I'd learn its meaning." (4.36-40)
Papa can't read, but even though he wishes he could, he wants Rob to know that reading isn't the only path to understanding.
P.S. The Book of Shaker isn't really a thing. Check out our section on "Setting" for more on that.
"Is he a better farmer than you, Papa?"
"Yes. He bests me at it. He wouldn't say to my face. But he knows and I know, and there's not a use in wording it."
"I don't want to grow up to be like Mr. Tanner. I want to be like you, Papa."
"I wouldn't wish that on a dead cat."
"I do, Papa. And I will. I'll be just like you."
"No, boy, you won't. You have your schooling. You'll read and write and cipher. And when you spray that orchard, you'll use the new things."
"Chemicals?"
"True. And you'll have more than farming to do. You won't have to leave your land to kill another man's hogs, and then ask for the grind meat with your hat in your hand." (12.54-61)
Papa sees education as a way for Rob to improve his lot in life and make him more prosperous than his father. He's interested in education not as an end in itself, but as a tangible way to increase Rob's skill as a farmer and, in turn, his future prospects.