The ominous narrator of the short story, Time and Again, once said “hogs die hard” (Pancake 85). Many readers may read that quote and think it is only a simple sentence but in reality it is much more complex. The short story by Breece D’J Pancake creates a narrator who is a murderer who only picks up his human victims if they are hitchhiking on a snowy night. Pancake used the hogs and their slop to allow the readers to compare the narrator to something that is familiar. The unnamed narrator’s past in Vietnam 's’ war makes him have no sympathy toward people. This is because he was forced to kill so many people that it numbed his feelings and emotions. Pancake makes the narrator seem as if the he is a fallen angel who is full of sin. The murderous
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His own family does not matter to him. In the beginning of the short story, the narrator called his wife an “old woman” (Pancake 83). He didn 't even refer to her as his wife. This quote shows, once again, that the narrator does not care about people. He does not have the ability to love anymore. While the narrator was in combat, he was forced to snap innocent soldiers necks. This paralyzed his ability of compassion and gratitude of human life. The only affiliation he had for human life was his only son. The son ran far away from home because he found his dead, helpless mother in the pig’s feeding through. It was never stated how the mother was killed or by whom. It can be assumed, knowing the narrator loves his pigs more than his useless wife, that the narrator somehow forced the wife into the feeding trough so his beloved hogs could have a feast. When the son ran away, the narrator spiralled out of control and lost his only connection to humanity. Without this weak link of connection, he started to kill hitchhikers for his hog slop. The narrator even stated at the beginning of the short story that he “ought to feed them better than that awful slop” (Pancake 83). The quote proves that the narrator enjoys feeding the pigs human slop over normal scraps of the average pig’s slop. All of these events and signs shows the reader that
His own family does not matter to him. In the beginning of the short story, the narrator called his wife an “old woman” (Pancake 83). He didn 't even refer to her as his wife. This quote shows, once again, that the narrator does not care about people. He does not have the ability to love anymore. While the narrator was in combat, he was forced to snap innocent soldiers necks. This paralyzed his ability of compassion and gratitude of human life. The only affiliation he had for human life was his only son. The son ran far away from home because he found his dead, helpless mother in the pig’s feeding through. It was never stated how the mother was killed or by whom. It can be assumed, knowing the narrator loves his pigs more than his useless wife, that the narrator somehow forced the wife into the feeding trough so his beloved hogs could have a feast. When the son ran away, the narrator spiralled out of control and lost his only connection to humanity. Without this weak link of connection, he started to kill hitchhikers for his hog slop. The narrator even stated at the beginning of the short story that he “ought to feed them better than that awful slop” (Pancake 83). The quote proves that the narrator enjoys feeding the pigs human slop over normal scraps of the average pig’s slop. All of these events and signs shows the reader that