Only the Animals

by

Ceridwen Dovey

Soul of a Pig Character Analysis

In “Hundstage,” the pig approaches the dog during the dog’s exile in the German forests. Unlike the dog, the pig doesn’t believe in humans’ superiority, nor does he believe that the Nazis are doing anything good for people or for animals. To illustrate his point, he tells the dog about his own death. The pig was executed in a traditional way for the crime of eating piglets: he was dressed in human clothes and died alongside a man would be executed while wearing a pig’s skin. His owners and the other villagers chose to kill the pig like this believing it would please the Nazis, who encouraged Germans to revive old traditions. But the Nazis instead arrested members of the pig’s human family for being cruel to animals.

Soul of a Pig Quotes in Only the Animals

The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by Soul of a Pig or refer to Soul of a Pig. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Interconnectedness of Humans and Animals Theme Icon
).
Hundstage: Soul of Dog Quotes

“A wise friend once told me that kindness, like cruelty, can be an expression of domination,” the pig said.

“That makes no sense,” I said scornfully.

Related Characters: The Dog (speaker), Soul of a Pig (speaker), Master/Heinrich Himmler
Page Number: 89
Explanation and Analysis:
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Soul of a Pig Quotes in Only the Animals

The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by Soul of a Pig or refer to Soul of a Pig. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Interconnectedness of Humans and Animals Theme Icon
).
Hundstage: Soul of Dog Quotes

“A wise friend once told me that kindness, like cruelty, can be an expression of domination,” the pig said.

“That makes no sense,” I said scornfully.

Related Characters: The Dog (speaker), Soul of a Pig (speaker), Master/Heinrich Himmler
Page Number: 89
Explanation and Analysis: