Lanna Micukic

Lanna Micukic

P2

10/12/10

The Pigman

By: Paul Zindel

Summary: For sophomores John and Lorraine, the world feels meaningless; nothing is important. They certainly can never please their parents, and school is a chore. To pass the time, they play pranks on unsuspecting people. It's during one of these pranks that they meet the "Pigman"--a fat, balding old man with a zany smile plastered on his face. In spite of themselves, John and Lorraine soon find that they're caught up in Mr. Pignati's zest for life. In fact, they become so involved that they begin to destroy the only corner of the world that's ever mattered to them.

Where the book took place, the time period and if it mattered to the book: This book is taking place in New York City in 1968. They don’t specify the neighborhood but they do say that both John and Lorraine go to “Franklin High School”. The time period actually does not affect the story in any kind of way, because everything that happened in the story could happen now or in the future or could have even happened in the past. It’s just one of those common things that happen in everyday life. So, the date does not matter to the story.

Main characters: The main characters in this story would be John Conlan,Lorraine Jensen, Angelo Pignati, Lorraine’s mother and John’s parents. Well John is a sophomore in a New York City high school. He is terribly dissatisfied with his life and misbehaves in interesting ways to try to give meaning to his own existence. Lorraine on the other hand is extremely under-confident; she is John’s alter ego. She lives with a mother who only knows how to criticize, so her relationship with John and Mr. Pignati becomes very important to her self-esteem. Lorraine’s mother is completely angry with what life has dealt her, Lorraine’s mother finds no comfort in her daughter and builds up a complete hatred for men. She contributes to Lorraine’s low self-esteem with her constant criticism. John’s mother is obsessed with herits furnishings, its cleanliness as a defense mechanism against the disappointments of her life while his father uses his job on the in the same manner.

Theme: Some of the themes that there were in the story are growing up, fate or destiny, and generation gap. Growing up is the most prevalent theme. Both John and Lorraine are products of dysfunctional families and, like all of us, find it easy to point to their parents as the source of their problems. However, as they create this relationship with Mr. Pignati, they begin to mature and recognize that, in spite of the temptation to blames others, in the end, life is what each of us makes of it and we are the only ones we can blame when it goes wrong. The theme of fate or destiny is a relatively dominant idea in this novel. The question the author, Paul Zindel, seems to be describing is: How much of life is coincidental? Lorraine’s character, for example, is obsessed with all the omens foretelling unhappiness, coming problems, or even death that she missed. She believes that if she had only recognized them as they occurred much of the tragedy she and John experienced would have been avoided. The theme of the generation gap is a more subtle hint as the story unfolds and then is boldly declared in the end. John and Lorraine enter the world of the elderly and Mr. Pignati enters a world he already lived in his youth when they befriend each other. John is angry in the end, because he feels Mr. Pignati trespassed into their world where he really couldn’t go and didn’t belong. Then, it occurs to him that he and Lorraine trespassed, too, and now must accept the consequences of trying to befriend a man who was desperate for anyone to ease his loneliness.

Tone: The tone of the story is regret. We very much like John and Lorraine at times and then, when they make stupid mistakes or are less than considerate of others, we dislike them. They, in turn, dislike the world around them one minute and are in love with life the next. However, by the end of the novel, the mood has shifted and remains constant: there is a sense of deep regret and sadness because of the Pigman’s death and the sad consequences that John and Lorraine must live with the rest of their lives.

Why is it a classic: This book is a classic novel for a couple of reasons, one reason being that he book has 10 years on it which qualifies it as a classic book. Not only that but it also has a life lesson and for a book to be a classic novel it has to have a life lesson and a reason for why it was written. The book was written for people of many ages to see how one person can have such a huge effect on someone else. In this story mr.Pignati became a huge part of John’s and Lorraine’s life.

Do I like the book: This was actually a very entertaining book I might add. It made you feel kind of happy at points but at the same time sad. The characters get in a lot of trouble trough out the book; they do things that make you disappointed with them but also proud. As you read the book you kind of grow up with the characters and you feel for them, this is why I really enjoyed reading the book. One last thing that I really also loved was how much the characters cared for each other and for there friends and family even though at points they weren’t so nice.

Recommend because: I would recommend this book defiantly so just about anyone. It is safe for younger people because it is not violent and does not use curse words. This book is also great for people who are a little older or more mature, because it deals with real life situations. When my friend told me about this book Ididn’t think it would be something big, but it turned out to be one of my favorite books. I would recommend this book to all my friends because if gives a life lesson throughout the whole story!

Scene of novel: There are many scenes in this book that I enjoyed very much, but by favorite by far is when John and Lorraine kissed. Mr.Pignati brought Lorraine and John much closer then they were even though they were very close before. He made them realize that they meant to each other a lot more then anything else. He showed them that they could not live without each other. That’s when they realized they should be more then best friends, so they moved to the next level. This is what happened at the park they were just talking and that’s when they saw that they were perfect for each other and showed it with a kiss.