Coming of Age

During the book A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Peck had to go through numerous trials to prove that he was either a man or a boy. Many times he showed he was a man, and other times he showed the boyish side of himself. Throughout the book Robert had to accept the fact that many things in life cannot be undone. Being a man means what has to be done must be done. Robert Peck in A Day No Pigs Would Die proves to be more of a man than a boy, through many trials and hardships that were shown all throughout the book.

According to the dictionary, the definition of maturity has several meanings; one being period in your life after your physical growth has stopped, or when signs of emotional maturity is reached such as the ability to accept responsibility for actions taken and to maintain poise in emergency situations.

In the beginning of the book Robert showed maturity in an emergency situation when Apron was having difficulty giving birth to her calves. When Robert did some quick thinking and decided to take his pants off to pull the calf out of Apron. He stated, “ Only three things could happen; My trousers would rip. Apron would just uproot the tree. The calf would slide out” (Peck 6). According to this statement Robert fits the definition of maturity.

After the calf was born Robert noticed Apron having difficulty breathing. He noticed a red ball looking object in the back of her throat and without hesitation threw his arm into the cow's mouth to remove the object. Robert thinks to himself, “Somebody told me once that a cow won’t bite. That somebody is as wrong as sin on Sunday” (Peck 8). Robert sustained serious injuries to his arm. He was able to obtained the goiter out and saved Apron. This, another sign of maturity.

Mr. Tanner found Robert and took him to his house to be cared for after his injuries. No one really knew at first what happened to Robert, but through his shock he was able to get out that Apron had a calf up on the ridge. His mother Lucy...