In L.M. Montgomery’s short story, “Them Notorious Pigs,” when Perry Hayden and his family move next to John Harrington, Harrington pays little attention to them. For he is a rather unsociable, contented, woman-hater who loves living by himself on his farm. Yet things change when poor Perry Hayden dies, leaving his widow to tend the farm and her two young boys alone.
Pig Problems
The difficulty begins when Mrs. Hayden’s 14 pigs get into Harrington’s newly planted garden. Harrington is furious at finding the ravenous pigs rooting in his garden, yet he merely sends them back to Mrs. Hayden, understanding this to be the first offense.Yet three days later, Harrington finds the pigs back in his garden. Angry and thinking rather prejudiced thoughts against women farmers, he sends the pigs back to Mrs. Hayden. He also sends a message asking her to kindly keep her pigs off his land.
