Pig+on+a+Stick+-+Themes

Pig on a Stick
List and explain the major themes for each story. Textual support is required. Each story should have a minimum of 2 -3 themes.
 * Themes**

4th block


 * __Themes:__** Ambrianna Echols and Destinee Heard

"__Nobody's Perfect__"- This theme relates to the story because their mother and father seemed as if they were going through some problems with their relationship. The narrator (one of the sisters) had an idea of what might have been going on. At a point in time they might have thought everything was perfect but soon they found out everything wasn't going so well with their parents. There was alot of fussing and fighting.

"__Every family has problems__"- There were two relationships mentioned in the story and both were ended. The father and mother had their ups and downs and left the children with their aunt. The aunt was a little wild and she got a boyfriend.They later broke up. The children were going through too much since they're already young and to them it was probably confuxing and understanding. Now they know that every family has problems and they have to settle them which happens at the end of the story.

5th block


 * __Themes:__** Maurice Chester and Carmina Escalante

There are many themes that are introduced in “Pig on A Stick,” many of them very controversial and negative themes that dig deep into our crazy mixed up teenage souls and make us reevaluate whether we live such a sucky life or not. (To put it lightly) A dominant idea expressed throughout the entire story is this idea of poverty. These girls are living in an extreme state where they are abandoned children, they rarely have something to eat and the events of the day scare the crap out of them, never knowing what will come next. You have to realize what time period this story is set in, first of all. We are in the late 60's to earky 70's, definitely during the Vietnam War era. Poverty is not an uncommon sight in these days (is it uncommon today??) In addition, this is the time when you have the Civil Rights Movement begin to slowly simmer down and you have a high percentage of African Americans living in poverty because of the racial discrimination that occurred in America in the last century. Even more to that, the story introduces the idea of racial slurs against white people such as the term, "cracker", a very "new" type of discrimination (economical discrimination) Another theme that is very evident throughout the story is the theme of neglectful parents. The narrator of the story tells us point-blank of the hardships she and her sister have had to experience due to their parents. These three girls had to witness their parents fighting every night, acting as parents to each other because their biological ones acted as if they had no time for them, and then having to live alone, uncared for because their parents finally broke down and abandoned them. These two themes may be intertwined. Perhaps their parents were so angry and neglectful because they were frustrated at this poverty they were in. Perhaps this "neglectful parent' theme may not just lie within the three girls, but perhaps that is how their parents experienced life. We do learn from our parents, as we all know.

A). Poverty- This is a time where poverty is not very uncommon. You have the Civil Rights Issues just beginning to slowly simmer down and you have many African Americans living in poverty, plus, you are surrounded by racial slurs against white people such as “cracker.” B).Neglectful Parents- In this story, the girls’s parents are extremely neglectful, never hesitating to leave Juney Mae with any ounce of responsibility, and the parents seem to always fight, which is another cause for their neglectfulness. Their fighting has caused them to get frustrated and leave, leaving their 3 children alone.
 * TO SUM IT ALL UP.....**