Sept. 23, 2001
Banned Book Note: Peck, Robert Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die. New York, N.Y.: Knopf, 1972.
Note: This defense of Peck's book is written as a newspaper op-ed piece in response to a public concern over the title in question's place in a hypothetical small town library.
These pages have recently been filled with calls for Robert Newton Peck's A Day No Pigs Would Die to be pulled from the shelves of the young adult section of the Garbendale Library, on the grounds that it is inappropriate for minors. More than a few letters have also supported the book's place on our shelves. The people of Garbendale aren't alone in raising objections to this book - it ranked seventeenth on the American Library Association's "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000."
I appreciate the concern the people of our community have expressed both ways. I recommended to the Citizens' Board that we leave the book in place. After careful consideration, the Board concurred but felt that a public hearing would be useful. In preparation for the forum, I wish to take the opportunity to discuss the objections and to explain our decision.
A Day No Pigs Would Die is an autobiographical novel that relates the author's experiences on his family's farm in a Shaker community in rural Vermont during the 1920s. His father, Haven, is the community's pig-slaughterer and wishes for his son to have a better life. Though he isn't a Shaker, he has taken on many of their values, including a great respect for life, which he passes on to young Rob. Rob has a pet pig named Pinky that he raises and would like to breed her with the neighbor's prize boar. She is, unfortunately, barren, and Rob has to face the decision to slaughter her for food. Not long after, his father dies following a winter of poor health. At 13, Rob has become a man and must take responsibility for running the farm.
Several writers complained that the novel is too violent in its depiction of birth and death on the farm. Indeed, the novel opens with a vivid description of a cow giving birth and how Rob is nearly killed trying to save the calf. Later, other scenes starkly describe Rob's efforts to breed Pinky and her eventual slaughter. Although the episodes are told in dramatic detail, the violence is never gratuitous. The characters recognize the gravity of these events and they provide a depth to the transformation that Rob must make as he learns to face the hard experiences that cannot be altered.
Other writers have objected to the sexual content, from the affairs and scandals among the community members, to the "graphic depiction of animals mating." The Selection Committee felt that the descriptions, while dramatic, were also not told for their own sake.
Another writer complained that the novel condones animal cruelty and a negative attitude for life, most notably in a scene in which Haven invites his neighbor to let his dog test her weasel-killing skills on a weasel Haven has captured in the chicken coop. In the aftermath of the contest, the weasel is dead, but the dog is injured so badly that she must be put to sleep; Haven realizes he can't ever let that happen again, no matter how many chickens he loses. Peck makes it clear that any apparent cruelty is because of circumstance rather than callousness. Haven teaches the boy how little need and want have to do with each other. "Need is a weak word. Ain't what you need that matters. It's what you do." In the context of the farm, if Rob wants to keep his pet pig alive after discovering she's barren, his family would suffer severe hardship. He has to learn "doing what's got to be done."
Other objections have been raised, including those to scenes touching on murder, exhuming an infant's grave, and profanity. The Board agreed that all of these elements are intrinsic to the story and not included for mere titillation; they are crucial to Rob's growth into manhood and serve to prepare him for both the harshness and the beauty of life.
The Library's selection policy, based on the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to View and Freedom to Read statements, includes the following: "A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views." The Library recognizes that for every parent who objects to a particular work on the young adult shelves, another parent would object just as strenuously should the Library bar their child from checking out the book. The Library subscribes to the ALA's Interpretation Free Access to Libraries for Minor in supporting the rights and responsibilities of parents to oversee their children's reading choices.
In addition, it also states: "A work will not be excluded from the library's collection solely because it represents a particular aspect of life, because of frankness of expression, or because it is controversial. The selection of materials is characterized by flexibility, open-mindedness, and responsiveness to the changing needs of the citizens of Garbendale. Materials are evaluated as complete works and not on the basis of a particular passage or passages."
Removing the book from the Young Adult shelves would be the wrong course of action, even if the voices calling for its removal drowned out those who support it. The Citizens' Board agreed that the themes of A Day No Pigs Would Die are relevant to young adults and have lasting value that transcends any potentially harmful effects of the offending scenes. I encourage you read the book and decide for yourself.
American Library Association. Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. 1991. <http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/free_min.html> (Sept. 12, 2001).
---. The Freedom to Read Statement. 1953; rev. 2000. <http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/freeread.html> (Sept. 19, 2001)
---. Library Bill of Rights. 1948; rev. 1996. <http://www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html> (Sept. 12, 2001).
American Library Association. Office of Intellectual Freedom. The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. 2000(?). <http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top100bannedbooks.html> (Sept. 19, 2001).
Boulder Public Library. Materials Selection Policy. 1991. <http://bcn.boulder.co.us/library/bpl/general/select.html> (Sept. 20, 2001).
Hartvigsen, M. Kip. and Hartvigsen, Christen Brog. "Haven Peck's legacy in A Day No Pigs Would Die." English Journal 74 (April 1985): 41-45.
Peck, Robert Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die. New York, N.Y.: Knopf, 1972.
---. Peck's Work. 2001. http://my.athenet.net/~blahnik/rnpeck/works.htm> (Sept. 23, 2001).
Sova, Dawn B. Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File, 1998, 87-89.