FREE ESSAY ON THE PIGMAN

THE PIGMAN

THE PIGMAN BY PAUL ZINDEL
The Pigman is a story about John and Lorraine, high school sophomores who, not getting
what they need from their families, must surreptitiously seek love, reassurance, and
meaning on the outside. In each other and Mr. Pignati (the Pigman), owner of a porcelain
pig collection, they find love and reassurance; the meaning they find in themselves, in
the unfolding of their relationship with Mr. Pignati and the drama leading to his death.

John, a handsome and wild boy, drinks and smokes excessively; and, as Lorraine points
out, only his good looks have kept him out of reform school. Lorraine, a shy girl John's
own age, has low self-esteem and mild paranoia. John becomes attracted to her because he
sees in her the same spontaneous, crazy quality that he has and no one else seems to
share. 
John and Lorraine meet Mr. Pignati via a phone game to see who can keep a stranger on the
line the longest. They get a $10.00 donation for a bogus charity and feel guilty about
it, since they perceive how lonely the Pigman is. To make up for taking the money, they
take Pigman to feed his only friend in the world, Bobo, an incredibly bad-tempered
baboon. 
Mr. Pignati, as he shows them his pig collection that once belonged to his deceased wife,
gives John and Lorraine the run of his house. Soon, Lorraine and John become close
friends with the Pigman, who takes them to Beekman's, a large department store, where he
buys them rollerskates and gourmet food. They play games together. They are like the
three monkeys that they see in the pet department at Beekman's, hugging each other to be
loved, and all the while the cold, indifferent world goes about its business ignoring
them. 
One day during a game of rollerskate tag in his house, Mr. Pignati has a heart attack
while chasing John up the stairs. He is taken to the hospital, and in his absence John
and Lorraine use the house to throw a wild party. Mr. Pignati returns unexpectedly at the
height of the commotion. John and Lorraine are taken home by the police; the Pigman cries
alone in his room. 
John and Lorraine feel remorseful for betraying Pigman's friendship and for the
destruction of his precious pigs by their uninvited friend, Norton, a thief, looking for
money. To smooth things over, they convince Mr. Pignati to join them to see Bobo at the
zoo the next day. But Bobo is dead. Poor Mr. Pignati cannot take the heartbreak. His wife
is dead. The pigs are destroyed. His best friend Bobo is dead. Mr. Pignati dies, too. 
John and Lorraine know they are partly to blame for his death. They know now they are
also responsible for what happens in their lives.