This definitely was influenced by Richey’s stay in a mental institution. In institutions they keep the patients sedate so they’re easily controllable (“They sit around tables rendered dumb“), and give them menial activities like arts and crafts, in addition to making them do chores to keep them occupied. (“Cleaning cooking and flower arranging. Dissolves a kind of liberation.”) I believe it’s also drawing a comparison to institution life and working class life, the same way Small Black Flowers drew comparisons to captive zoo animals and humans held captive by oppressive society. Your boss is your doctor, your duties at work keep you too occupied to put up a fight for control, ect. I have absolutely no idea what the “Piggy” chant means.
This definitely was influenced by Richey’s stay in a mental institution. In institutions they keep the patients sedate so they’re easily controllable (“They sit around tables rendered dumb“), and give them menial activities like arts and crafts, in addition to making them do chores to keep them occupied. (“Cleaning cooking and flower arranging. Dissolves a kind of liberation.”) I believe it’s also drawing a comparison to institution life and working class life, the same way Small Black Flowers drew comparisons to captive zoo animals and humans held captive by oppressive society. Your boss is your doctor, your duties at work keep you too occupied to put up a fight for control, ect. I have absolutely no idea what the “Piggy” chant means.