
Death of a Pig (1948) - samclemens
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1948/01/death-pig/309203/?single_page=true
======
davis
Wow. I was just listening to Conversations with Tyler with Jill Lepore[1] this
morning. She mentioned this article at the end:

 _COWEN_ : Final question. The world of social media, we all know it’s not
going away. Maybe it has some problems, but if you were to give a student or a
person some piece of advice or intellectual ammunition to carry with them
through this world — some book, some essay, some thought — so as to make it
marginally better rather than marginally worse, what would that be?

 _LEPORE_ : Read this E. B. White essay called “Death of a Pig.”

 _COWEN_ : And what does he tell us in “Death of a Pig”?

 _LEPORE_ : A pig dies on his . . . He was in Maine. He’s trying to understand
what it means when something dies when you didn’t expect it to die and you
couldn’t save it, and I just find it a very beautiful essay. But I think
something is dying, and we can’t save it, and that’s a good place to start, to
figure out how to feel about that.

[1]: [https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/tyler-cowen-
jill...](https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/tyler-cowen-jill-lepore-
wonder-woman-harvard-new-yorker-aafbd123f165)

------
pmoriarty
This reminds me of how recently an activist was charged with criminal mischief
for giving water to thirsty pigs on the way to a slaughterhouse.[1] (She was
found not guilty.[2])

[1] - [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/animal-
activist-...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/animal-activist-
gives-water-to-thirsty-pigs-gets-charged-with-mischief-1.3302624)

[2] -
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/05/05/j...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/05/05/judge-
finds-activist-who-gave-water-to-pigs-not-guilty-of-a-crime/)

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jeffwass
For those that may not click on title alone, this essay is by E. B. White,
author of Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and coauthor of Strunk & White's The
Elements of Style.

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tptacek
That's a hell of a last sentence.

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nitin_flanker
I asked my friends about this (not telling them about the article). They said
that they will not grief or go through regret related to saving the pig or any
animal in that case.

The explanation was "If I was already aware of the fact that pig will die
eventually in butcher house; I wouldn't have worried too much about it's
natural death beside just the fact that I lost an animal who could have become
my dinner sometime."

While I can totally relate to the farmer in the article. I might have also
cried of my pig's death regardless of knowing that the pig is going to be
butchered sooner or later.

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abetusk
I have to say I really don't understand this story. For those of you who don't
want to read, it's a 1948 story about a farmer (presumably E.B. White?) who
tries to save his pig before slaughter that has fallen sick and dies (from
erysipelas presumably?).

The narrator seems to have a lot of investment in the pig's health:

    
    
        The pig's lot and mine were inextricably bound now,
        as though the rubber tube were the silver cord. From 
        then until the time of his death I held the pig
        steadily in the bowl of my mind; the task of trying
        to deliver him from his misery became a strong obsession.
        His suffering soon became the embodiment of all earthly
        wretchedness.
    

The ending few sentences concludes with

    
    
        I have written this account in penitence and in grief,
        as a man who failed to raise his pig, and to explain
        my deviation from the classic course of so many raised
        pigs. The grave in the woods is unmarked, but Fred can
        direct the mourner to it unerringly and with immense
        good will, and I know he and I shall often revisit it,
        singly and together, in seasons of reflection and
        despair, on flagless memorial days of our own choosing.
    

On a superficial reading, there might be a confusion as to the empathy of the
narrator, but the narrator clearly understands what the conclusion of a
healthy pig is:

    
    
        I had assumed that there could be nothing much wrong
        with a pig during the months it was being groomed for
        murder; my confidence in the essential health and
        endurance of pigs had been strong and deep, particularly
        in the health of pigs that belonged to me and that were
        part of my proud scheme.
    

So it's understood that in the best of cases, the pig is being cared for so
that it can be murdered for food.

Is the sense of loss one of not conforming to a rigid script that society sets
out? Is it because the narrator has a genuine sense of empathy but just
ignores the fact that they'll slaughter and eat the thing they have empathy
for? Or is it a statement that we are all eventually bound for a soulless
premeditated murder and the only thing we can hope for is a comfortable prison
before the time comes?

Or am I just expecting too much introspection from someone who hasn't examined
their own motives and actions?

~~~
waynecochran
I have friends who own cattle that will later be butchered. They truly love
those animals, even though they know their fate in the end. They give even
them names. They would be heartbroken if one of them died like this pig did. I
suppose this is the mindset of many who raise these animals. There is
definitely a sense a humaneness towards their animals, and at the same time
enjoy the meat they produce.

I have seen cows butchered -- one second they are alive -- one blow to the
head they are gone. Sharp transition from death to life. Better than many
humans who endure being eaten by cancer while lying in a hospital bed.

We are so insulated from death in our society, we almost pretend it doesn't
happen. Many who butcher there own animals or hunt for their own meat have a
better grip on this reality I think.

~~~
honestoHeminway
A better grip on reality.

Yes, and there is not this perverse attempt to replace human company with
controllable companions (aka pets), that leads to so much animal antromorphism
and hidden missery.

I can like a cow, and still know its a cow. A horse can not know what a hand
is that holds the sugar cube. For a horse, you are another smaller horse.

I live near a horse-stable, where strong-empowered single ladies have up to
five horses. The sadness and missery of a live that has replaced what could be
a family or just human company with animals - is on par in my eyes with some
computer addicted males. You should hear the arguments they have with the vet.

~~~
aleksei
> I live near a horse-stable, where strong-empowered single ladies have up to
> five horses. The sadness and missery of a live that has replaced what could
> be a family or just human company with animals - is on par in my eyes with
> some computer addicted males.

What the actual fuck?

~~~
emodendroket
It's inelegantly expressed, but have you ever talked to horse people?

~~~
mikestew
Not any more than is absolutely required by law. I would render aid should I
come upon someone of the Horse Peoples tribe who had collapsed, but that's
about as far as it goes. Their ways...they are strange, their speech garbled.

~~~
emodendroket
Yeah, you think you're joking.

------
aptwebapps
Compare and contrast with Mona, by James Taylor. Superficially similar
subject, but very different effect. E. B. White certainly could make every
word tell.

------
bonzi_buddy
I loved the emotional paradox here and all, but why can't you eat a pig that
died from some natural cause?

~~~
duskwuff
Because you suspect that the cause of death may have been a disease which is
communicable to humans:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erysipelothrix_rhusiopathiae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erysipelothrix_rhusiopathiae)

~~~
bonzi_buddy
But the vet determined that it was not erysipelas

~~~
tpeo
Even if it wasn't erysipelas, they didn't know what it was. Eating the pig
could've been fine if they at least were able to tell what is it that it had
and whether it was infectious or not.

Eating animals whose cause of death is unknown is usually not a sound
decision.

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0xbear
Exquisite use of the English language. Thanks for posting.

------
rtx
We can't say we didn't knew better.

------
vool
some pig

~~~
duskwuff
Not sure if you noticed the author or not -- but he would go on to write
_Charlotte 's Web_ a few years later. :)

