A Day No Pigs Would Die- Morals and Symbolism

Derek Fries                                                                                         10-18-11
ADNPWD Final Essay                                                                       Mrs. Walter PD:   7
A Day No Pigs Would Die does a fantastic job capturing Robert Newton Peck’s extraordinary writing style. It uses great dialect and very incredible literary elements to convey a strong message of love and hard work being the basis of life. I believe that A Day No Pigs Would Die is one of the best novels out there in terms of the great symbolism while having an interesting story. In only 150 pages, the novel gives a lifetime of lessons that anyone, adult or child, can take from and use to better themselves. Using the many literary elements at his disposal, Robert Newton Peck turned a semi-autobiographical story into an award winning novel. A Day No Pigs Would Die uses symbolism, themes, and literary elements to communicate a very strong, passionate message about love and family.
First, the author of A Day No Pigs Would Die is Robert Newton Peck. He was born in Vermont and was raised as a Shaker, showing the semiautobiographical elements of the story he wrote. The novel has many elements that did actually happen, such as his birthplace in Vermont or his religion. But many things he made up for the sake of the narrative. This makes it only semiautobiographical and not fully autobiographical. He lives in Florida today. His father’s name is Haven Peck, which also carries over to the story. His father was a pig slaughterer, as in the story. Robert wrote the novel in 2-3 weeks, which was published in 1972.
The setting on the novel helps get the point of the Shaker Way across. The setting of a story is the environment; time period, location, or surrounding that a story takes place in. The Shaker’s live a very plain lifestyle, with “frills” being frowned upon. Frills include things that are merely for the pleasure of the individual. The setting of A Day No...