The Pigman
By: Paul Zindel
Summary
For this challenge, I chose to read the book called The Pigman which was published in 1968. The book starts out describing an “oath” that the two main characters, John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen, both signed. These two characters are both sophomores in high school and in this oath they both pledge that when it comes to any experiences with Mr. Pignati, they will only report the facts. This book is written about past events that happened through Lorraine and John’s eyes, they are writing down the facts after they all occurred to make sure they don’t forget.
John, Lorraine, and two of their friends decide one night to play a game. In this game, they would make prank phone calls and whoever could stay on the phone the longest wins. During Lorraine’s turn, she decides to call a man named Mr. Pignati and she acted as if she were calling from a charity. One thing led to another and Mr. Pignati agreed to make a donation to this fake charity. John and Lorraine head over to Mr. Pignati’s house to collect the money and also while there, they accepted his offer to take them to the zoo. A friendship started to form between John, Lorraine, and Pignati and Mr. Pignati acted as almost a parental figure in the two kids’ lives due to the lack of parental structure they had in their lives previously.
John and Lorraine became frequent visitors at Pignati’s house and during one of their visits they discovered an artifact that revealed that Pignati’s wife is in fact dead despite Pignati telling the children she was gone on vacation. The children get close enough to the man to reveal to him that they were never part of a charity and that is when Pignati tells the kids his wife is actually dead. Pignati spoils John and Lorraine by spoiling them with love, food, and gifts. At one point, John and Lorraine were gifted roller skates along with Pignati buying some for himself. While out roller skating, Pignati suffered a heart attack putting him in the hospital to recover for a while.
While Pignati spent time in the hospital, John and Lorraine agreed to watch over his house. During this time, they decided to have a few friends over to hang out. This escalated into a huge party being thrown at Pignati’s house. The unexpected guests tore up the house, breaking the most valuable items and the most sentimental. When Mr. Pignati returns home, he is very hurt to discover the condition the children left his house in; however, he chooses not to press charges. The children offer to take Mr. Piganti to the zoo to make up for the damage they caused. When they arrive at the zoo, they find out that their favorite animal, Bobo the baboon, had passed away. This devastating news sent Mr. Pignati into cardiac arrest causing him to pass away. They reflect on the previous events, blame themselves for Pignati’s death, and believe Pignati would have been better off without them in his life.
Discussion
This book seems irrelevant in today’s society in so many ways. The author of this book uses very vulgar, aggressive language that is completely unacceptable in today’s society. I started off reading the book and within the first chapter, the main character John used the word “retarted” very aggressively and unnecessarily to blatantly be critical towards another character in the book.
This book has been said to be taught in school because the characters and the idea of the book are very relatable to some students. Two of the main characters, John and Lorraine, grow up in very rough households. They don’t have the parental structure at home that children their age should. In the book, the author talks about Lorraine and her mother and how her mom doesn’t want Lorraine hanging around boys. Her mom explains this thought by saying that boys “only [have] one thing on their mind” (46). With that being said, this could also be perceived as an inappropriate book to teach in schools due to the book containing questionable role models and vulgar content. In my opinion, students in the higher middle level grades into high school should be able to have the maturity level to be able to handle this book. A way to teach this in a classroom is to read the book as a class and discuss as a whole class why some may disagree with ideas in the book and why some may think parts are inappropriate.
Thematic Events
In my opinion, some of the themes that may have been represented in this book include death, how we treat others, and family relationships.
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Death
A lot of this book revolves around death starting at an early point when we learn that Lorraine's father is dead. Later on in the book, Mr. Pignati and Bobo also pass away tragically. "If you ask me, I think he would have died anyway" (203). The theme death in this book teaches its readers that it is important to treat others with the kindness you would like to be treated with because you never know when something tragic may occur.
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How we treat others
The theme of death directly ties into this theme because John and Lorraine didn't start off with a great relationship with Mr. Pignati. They would use him for pranks and play games on him. Throughout the book, the two of them created a strong relationship with the man that turned into a strong bong with Mr. Pignati acting as a parental figure. Also, while Mr. Pignati was sick in the hospital, the children had no remorse for his feelings and instead threw a party at his house when they weren't supposed to. This event ended up causing bigger issues that they never intended would happen. This theme shows the reader that with every decision you make, it is going to affect someone -- positively or negatively and it is your responsibility to weigh those consequences.
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Family Relationships
John and Lorraine lack parental structure in their actual family houses. Due to this, Mr. Pignati quickly plays the role as a parental figure. The three of them get really close and do everything together until one day Mr. Pignati gets really sick. When he ends up passing away, the kids put the blame on themselves thinking they should have done more to help them. This theme is prevalent in the book because it is important to recognize the bond that Mr. Pignati held with the children.