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Question: Help with poem analysis!?
In England once there lived a big
And wonderfully clever pig!.
To everybody it was plain
That Piggy had a massive brain!.
He worked out sums inside his head,
There was no book he hadn't read!.
He knew what made an airplane fly,
He knew how engines worked and why!.
He knew all this, but in the end
One question drove him round the bend:
He simply couldn't puzzle out
What LIFE was really all about!.
What was the reason for his birth!?
Why was he placed upon this earth!?
His giant brain went round and round!.
Alas, no answer could be found!.
Till suddenly one wondrous night!.
All in a flash he saw the light!.
He jumped up like a ballet dancer
And yelled, "By gum, I've got the answer!"
"They want my bacon slice by slice
"To sell at a tremendous price!
"They want my tender juicy chops
"To put in all the butcher's shops!
"They want my pork to make a roast
"And that's the part'll cost the most!
"They want my sausages in strings!
"They even want my chitterlings!
"The butcher's shop! The carving knife!
"That is the reason for my life!"
Such thoughts as these are not designed
To give a pig great piece of mind!.
Next morning, in comes Farmer Bland,
A pail of pigswill in his hand,
And piggy with a mighty roar,
Bashes the farmer to the floor…
Now comes the rather grizzly bit
So let's not make too much of it,
Except that you must understand
That Piggy did eat Farmer Bland,
He ate him up from head to toe,
Chewing the pieces nice and slow!.
It took an hour to reach the feet,
Because there was so much to eat,
And when he finished, Pig, of course,
Felt absolutely no remorse!.
Slowly he scratched his brainy head
And with a little smile he said,
"I had a fairly powerful hunch
"That he might have me for his lunch!.
"And so, because I feared the worst,
"I thought I'd better eat him first!."

Roald DahlWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Here's the point of the poem (which is also a parable or fable): Yes, the poem speaks to the meaning of life!.!.!.but in this case it had an answer and the intellect was able to overcome the destiny of the pig (at least for a time)!.!.!.if you take the poem to it's logical parallel (removing the anthropomorphism), man can determine his true "reason for being" by using reason and logic instead of religious dogma, and in so doing, overcome his destiny with death!. If, however, he chooses religion instead of reason, he'll be doomed to God's chopping block assuming there is no way out!. The pig correctly deduced his fate and took pre-emptive measures to change his destiny and destroyed his creator!.!.!.or at least the one who supported his life!. The downside, of course, is that he also removed his source of sustenance with the killing of the farmer who also took care of him!.!.!.which brings up the point that if you remove the reason for your upcoming demise, you may be only shifting the cause of that demise!.!.!.cause and effect!.

Great poem!.!.!.lots to discuss and roll around in a coffee houseWww@QuestionHome@Com