How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
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.
Quote #8
It was like he was yanked off the limb by a rope. He fell kicking into a mess of leaves and brush, and when I got to him he was still twisting. Holding his back legs, I swung his body against the trunk of a sweet gum tree. His spine cracked, and he was dead.
Back on the kitchen stoop, I took a knife and cut open his belly. I was right careful not to cut the paunch. Removing the warm wet sack, I brought it into the kitchen, and washed it under the sink pump. (12.29-30)
Wow. Shmoop is willing to bet that for most kids today (and most adults, too, for that matter), the ease and familiarity with which Rob kills the squirrel is a wee bit shocking. Most of us today don't have anything close to this lack of squeamishness, but Rob has clearly done this a few times in his day.
Quote #9
Standing up, I moved away from Pinky as Papa went to her head. She just stood there in the fresh snow, looking at my feet. I saw Papa get a grip on the crowbar, and raise it high over his head. It was then I closed my eyes, and my mouth opened like I wanted to scream for her. I waited. I waited to hear the noise that I finally heard.
It was a strong crushing noise that you only hear when an iron stunner bashes in a pig's skull. I hated Papa that moment. I hated him for killing her, and hated him for every pig he ever killed in his lifetime… for hundreds and hundreds of butchered hogs. (14.21-22)
Rob's anger at his father is intense and goes beyond his despair at losing his beloved pet. Why do you think Rob hates Papa for "every pig he ever killed"? Is it really Papa he's angry at, or is it something else altogether?