The Pigman

The Pigman
Author Paul Zindel
Country USA
Language English
Genre Young Adult literature
Publisher Harper Trophy
Publication date
 1968-10-12
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 166 pages
ISBN 978-0-06-075735-9
OCLC 58968588
LC Class CPB Box no. 2360 vol. 13
Followed by The Pigman's Legacy (1980)
The Pigman & Me (1990)

The Pigman is a young adult novel written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. Zindel wrote a screenplay, adapting the book for the stage and screen, but it was not taken up by any film maker.

The novel is frequently assigned in elementary schools, middle schools, and some high schools as assignments for English classes.

Significance of the Title

The title of this Young Adult Novel, "The Pigman," does not accurately describe what this book portrays. The story of The Pigman describes the life and hardships of Angelo Pignati. Being portrayed as a simple old man, his life is more interesting and gratifying than seen at his first appearance. His nickname comes from a great collection of pig statues seen inside one of his rooms, which are some of The Pigman's prize possessions. Even though his name may be deceiving, the layered story of The Pigman portrays much more than a man with statues of animals, as these statues do not nearly begin to tell his story.

Plot summary

The novel begins with an "oath" signed by John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen, two high school sophomores, who pledge that they will report only the facts about their experiences with Mr. Pignati.

When John, Lorraine, and two teen troublemakers, Norton Kelly and Dennis Kobin make prank phone calls, Lorraine picks out Mr. Pignati's phone number and pretends to be calling from a charity. After a long conversation with him, Mr. Pignati offers to donate ten dollars. Against Lorraine's better judgement, John and her travel to his house to collect the funds. After hesitantly accepting "The Pigman's" offer of going to the zoo, a friendship begins to blossoms between the three of them. He begins to take on the role of a parental-figure for the two teenagers, something neither of them were seen to have.

John and Lorraine's visits become increasingly frequent, and during one such visit, they discover the document inside his room. After reading it, they realize The Pigman has been lying this entire time about where his wife has been. Mr. Pignati's wife, Conchetta, is dead, instead of being on vacation as The Pigman has stated numerous times. Soon, John and Lorraine visit The Pigman daily after school, and he showers them with gifts, food, and most importantly, the love and attention they do not receive in their own joyless homes. They reveal to him that they were never affiliated with any charity, and he reveals what they already know the truth about his wife, that she is actually dead.

One of the most important gifts the kids receive are a pair of roller skates. Getting a pair for himself also, the three of them could not be happier, until one afternoon. Mr. Pignati suffers a heart attack while he and the teens are playing tag with roller skates, and is sent to the hospital; John and Lorraine agree to take care of his house while he recovers. While they are taking care of the house, they both resemble that of a married couple. Between the responsibilities and numerous chores, they love being inside the house. The true betrayal comes when John invites theirso called friends over to Mr. Pignati's house. The situation quickly turns into a drunken, boisterous party. Lorraine's friend rips one of Conchetta Pignati's dresses. Norton ransacks Mr. Pignati's house and destroys Conchetta's collection of porcelain pigs, which Mr. Pignati holds very dear to him. John beats him up in retaliation.

Mr. Pignati returns to find his house ransacked, and is incredibly hurt when he finds out John and Lorraine were responsible for the incident. Feeling terrible, the two offer to take him to the zoo to help make up for it. When they arrive at the zoo to meet Bobo, they discover that Bobo the baboon, Mr. Pignati's favorite animal and buddy, has died. Overcome with grief and the heaviness of the recent events, Mr. Pignati suffers a cardiac arrest and dies, leaving John and Lorraine grieving and reflecting on the fragility of life. John tells Lorraine to wait outside of the area where he died, fearing that her mother would hit her in repercussions of the situation. John and Lorraine write their story down.

Themes

Peer Pressure- This story goes into the idea of peer pressure on numerous occasions. The first one seen being the phone call Lorraine made to Mr Pignati. She did not want to keep the conversation going and felt as if she was not doing the right thing. Her friends kept on pressuring her to continue the conversation and so she did. When her and John later on go to visit him after their scheme of collecting money for charity, Lorraine has the same feeling of guilt. She does not want to take money from this poor old man, and says to John how it is wrong. Not listening to her at all, he pressures her into taking the money and keeping silent about the truth. Finally, John and Lorraine are pressured into having a party over the house of Mr, Pignati, which results in the destruction of all of his possessions and him ultimately feeling broken. With peer pressure running high in this story, many of the characters were unable to speak their own opinions and were afraid to stand up against the crowd. Whether it be Lorraine afraid to stand up against John, or John afraid to stand up to his friends, the main characters are seen to be reluctant in speaking their true emotions. The pressure given to them by a massive audience becomes the reason for the downfall of their great friend; The Pigman.

Loss- The occurrence of loosing loved ones and loved possessions is frequent throughout the novel. It begins with The Pigman's loss of both his collection of pigs and his wife's dress. Both these items were very important to him, letting him remember a time of peace and happiness. When they were both destroyed, he lost a huge part of who he was. The next lost came into play with the Pigman loosing his best friend, Bobo. His death at the zoo was too much for this man, resulting in a heart attack that killed him. His death was the kids loosing their dear friend, but also their innocence. The loss of their friend and watching him die was a huge traumatic experience for them, whether they acknowledge it or not. Loosing a friend is a very difficult thing for a person to go through. It becomes even that much harder when you loose a friend and believe that it is your fault. The amount of terrible and shocking experiences Lorraine and John put The Pigman through were too much for him, especially because of his old age. His last stitch of happiness died along with Bobo, leaving him a former shell of himself. When he finally died, his death was a loss to the kids, but not to himself, as all his happiness already passed away.

Family and Parenting- Throughout the story both John and Lorraine do not know a parental figure. Physically both of them have parents (john having his mother and father, Lorraine having her mother), but mentally they are not there for them. John has two parents who do not care what he does and are very self-centered. Both let him smoke and drink and show him that there will be no repercussions for his actions. This makes John partake in troublesome actions much more than anyone usual would, simply trying to get his parent's attention. While his efforts fail each time, he does not give up, and ironically only rebels in such a harsh manner wishing his parents paid attention to him. Lorraine only lives with her mother, due to her father leaving them a long time ago. Her mother is not a great parental figure, seen to be mocking and ridiculing her daughter constantly throughout the story.


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