“View of a Pig” by Ted Hughes is about learning to think through problems and
inconveniences to end up finding acceptance. The poem runs through all the
frustrating steps of a new problem and yet finds sympathy and acceptance at the end.
With some thought the once frustrating encounter with the pig leads to sympathy when
remembering the being once had earthly pleasure.
First of all the poem starts off in a rather frustrating manner. There is an
encounter with a large lifeless pig laying on top of a barrow. First contact with the pig
causes the person to “Thump it without feeling remorse.” The thumping however did no
good as “It was like a sack of wheat.” After some physical abuse the pig turns out to be
not like a pig at all. The pig felt too dead to be mad at as it was like “A poundage of lard
and pork.” The blame for where the pig lay was formally upon the pig but it “Did not
seem able to accuse.” Through all the frustrating events, and attempts to accuse the
pig, sympathy for the pig starts to appear.
Instead of the anger, the poem changes to being more sympathetic towards the
pig. The frustrating resting place of the pig does not matter as much when thinking “Of
earthly pleasure it had been.” When looking at the closed eyes with white eyelashes,
and its feet sticking straight out, its life “Seemed a false effort, and off the point.” It
The Essay on Lord of the Flies Narrative Poem
I, the island, all alone in the sea, Have been invaded by humanity. A plane crashed while escaping war, And left several schoolboys upon my shore. In my jungle, a scar their tube did make, And simultaneously, my peace it did take. Two boys blew into a shell from my beach. All came to whom the sound did reach. They decided that they needed a chief, And Ralph was chosen, to Jack’s grief. The ...
became hard to believe that all of the pigs “Distinctions and admirations such as this
one were long finished with.” Although by the size of the pig it seemed to have a long
life, it seems too short when one minute it’s nimbler than a cat and the next minute it’s
dead. To get through the changes in life one must learn how to find acceptance.
To get something out of mind frustration and sympathy must be taken care of to
reach acceptance. The poem illustrates this with the quote “Too dead now to pity.” All
the anger and sympathy for the pig is gone with the realization that the pig is no longer
alive. The first encounter with the pig made the person thump it because it was in the
way. Eventually with some acceptance, the person realized that it would be too hard to
move and cut up. Finally, looking at the pigs throat with a shocking gash on the
surface, the person now accepted the pig is gone.
In conclusion, reaching acceptance takes time. Several stages of frustration take
place when thinking of all the work the new problem would cause. It would be no easy
task to attempt moving a dead pig, especially alone. Time and mental anguish could be
better spent on other things so its understandable frustration arose. Acting out of
frustration may have caused the person the thump the pig and later on feel bad about
it. The next stage of sympathy came up when the person decided that it was not really
the pigs fault. The pig was once great and able to live life to its fullest but now looking
back it seems life is a false effort. When the person thought about how vulnerable life
is, sympathy was felt which finally led to acceptance. In reality everything dies, and
therefore the pig was “Too dead to pity.” The death wounds were clearly visible so their
was no reason to wish it back. Nevertheless, without some frustration and sympathy
there would be no reason for acceptance.
