The main characters are James Herriot, the author, and Siegfried Farnon James's employer. Farnon owns a small vetinary clinic in Yorkshire, England. Siegfried is a very absent minded person always accusing James of messing up cars and doing other things but mainly just cars, when it was actually he who messed up the car. James ignores this and goes along with his daily chores of calving, putting old dogs to sleep, and the other responsibilities that go along with being a vetinary assistant. For the most part James and Siegfried get along with what seems to be a mutual friendship. .
There are many conflicts that exist throughout the book. There is constantly man vs. man conflicts throughout the story. For example Siegfrid's younger brother Tristan comes to live with them in Yorkshire after he had finished up a semester of college. Siegfried asked him about how he did in one of his subjects; he replied that he had failed. Right away Siegfried jumped down his throat and begins to yell and carry on at Tristan. Throughout the book this happens over and over again. An example of Man vs. Nature was when James was going through a calving and the calf bit and nibbled at his fingers trying to get away by just slipping through James's fingers. This kept on for several hours until James finally won.
The resolution of the main conflict, Man vs. Nature was that nature would usually win by fault of death or by other means. Sometimes death would be the only way to solve the matter at hand. It was usually the only way to put the animal out of its misery since many medicines did not exist in the 1930's.
All Creatures Great and Small is a non fiction book about the early veterinary life of James Herriot. The book goes through James" life in the nineteen thirties when he first becomes a veterinary surgeon and the colorful people and their pets and other animals that he meets along the way.
The book takes place during the nineteen thirties in Yorkshire, England.