46 pages • 1 hour read
Paul ZindelThe Pigman
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Teenager’s Loss of Innocence Through a Defining Moment in Their Life
The trope of innocence lost is a common theme in books and movies featuring young people. Children and teens living idyllic childhoods in the bliss and freedom of their youth are exposed to evil and sinister forces that warp their view of the world and forever change how they see themselves. In The Pigman, Zindel subverts the innocence lost trope as John and Lorraine have already lost their innocence through damaging and abusive childhood experiences. Raised by a bitter and haggard single mother, Lorraine has never known the beauty of carefree adolescence. She thinks and acts like an adult and has ever since she can remember. John adopts his father’s struggle with alcohol addiction and lives in a constant state of contemptuous conflict with his parents. For both teens, their loss of innocence came long before they met Angelo Pignati. Their encounter with the old man deepens their knowledge of the harsh and painful truth of life. Attaching themselves to Mr. Pignati’s kindness, John and Lorraine revert to their childlike nature to recapture the innocent and idyllic family life they have lost but quickly realize it is impossible to reclaim a past they never had in the first place.
What begins as a prank call game for John and Lorraine turns into a chance to rebuild the family life they have both missed. Sharing meals, watching television, enjoying a day at the zoo, and shopping together are all normal family activities for most kids, but to John and Lorraine they are new, novel experiences that create a sense of love and acceptance they have never enjoyed. For a moment, the lonely, morose teenagers feel like they are a part of a loving family. Lorraine thinks,
One part of me was saying ‘Don’t let this nice old man waste his money,’ and the other half was saying ‘Enjoy it, enjoy doing something absolutely absurd’—something that let me be a child in a way I never could be with my mother, something just silly and absurd and…beautiful (79).
As they engage in silly antics like roller skating through a store, Lorraine realizes they are trying to recapture a lost portion of their childhood: “Play was something natural, I remember thinking—something which Nature wanted us to do to prepare us for later life” (134). When Mr. Pignati is in the hospital, John and Lorraine use his home to play house by dressing up in adult clothes and acting out adult roles. A normal activity for young children, John and Lorraine’s playtime becomes a farce as they quickly devolve into the roles they have seen in their homes. The escapist bliss is short-lived as they argue over burned toast and unwashed dishes. Suddenly uncomfortable in the role of an adult, John whiplashes back into adolescence and hosts a raging, drunken party that ends in disaster. When he watches Mr. Pignati die, John is soberly cast back into the real world, and he realizes their crime was not in befriending the man but in thinking they could change the past: “We had trespassed too—been where we didn’t belong, and we were being punished for it. Mr. Pignati had paid with his life. But when he died, something in us had died as well” (148). In the end, the author asserts that it is impossible to recapture an unspoiled childhood or recreate an idealized life.
In the same way John and Lorraine search to recapture their lost childhoods, Mr. Pignati uses their time together to return to the joy he had when Conchetta was alive. There is no indication the Pignati’s had children or grandchildren, but the way he playfully engages with the teenagers and overindulges them echoes the way he might nurture and spoil his progeny. He behaves like he has been given extra time or a second chance at living a satisfying life. Seeing how happy Mr. Pignati is with John and Lorraine only deepens the sadness of the truth of their intentions. When they reveal their true identities to him, he experiences a loss of innocence as he realizes he is alone. Though he forgives them and continues spending time with them, the thrill is gone, and the sadness creeps back in. Lorraine and John cannot know for certain that their treachery caused Mr. Pignati’s untimely death, but the shock of their betrayal, coupled with the loss of Bobo, definitely was too much for the feeble man. John lays some blame on Mr. Pignati, saying, “I wanted to tell her he had no right going backward. When you grow up, you’re not supposed to go back. Trespassing—that’s what he had done” (147). Whether or not John is correct in asserting that a person cannot return to childhood, the Pigman’s death shocks the protagonists and the reader with a grim reminder of the irreversibility of choices and the fragility of life.
The Consequences of Lies and Deception
Teenagers can be known for stretching the truth, whether for self-preservation, getting something they want or fitting in with their peers. Ironically, John and Lorraine begin their memorial epic by insisting they will tell the truth about what happened to Angelo Pignati. The difference between fact and fiction becomes the locus of the internal and external conflict in the novel. However, it is not just the teenage protagonists Lorraine and John who tell lies. Every major character uses dishonesty to move forward or to survive in the world. Mr. Pignati lies to protect himself from feeling the full weight of his loss. John and Lorraine meet him through an act of deception and rationalize the continuation of the lie to shield him from further grief. Lorraine even convinces herself that lies are sometimes a necessary part of life: “Maybe there are some lies you should never admit to” (92). Through untangling these falsehoods, the author highlights the consequences of living a life based on duplicity and corruption and how it can cause irreparable harm to anyone involved.
John has built his entire existence on lies. He stretches and bends the truth to wiggle his way out of trouble at school and maintain his trickster persona. In describing John’s character, Lorraine spends a significant amount of time explaining John’s pattern of deception: “He has these gigantic eyes that look right through you, especially if he’s in the middle of one of his fantastic everyday lies” (6). At first, it appears that John lies just for fun or to keep up his roguish reputation at school. However, once the reader learns more about his home life, it becomes clear his lies are an attempt to rewrite his life story, the untruths becoming a false reality in which he lives. Lorraine criticizes John’s mendacity, but by the end of the narrative, she is lying to her mother daily. She only becomes aware of the depths of her dishonesty when the police return her home after the party, and her mother slaps her face calling her an outright liar. The police officer delivers a poignant reminder about the consequences of poor choices when Lorraine begs him not to take her home: “You should’ve thought about that about that a little earlier, young lady” (131). The words reverberate as a cautionary message to anyone, not just teenagers, that lies and deception will one day catch up to a person and they will be forced to reconcile with the consequences of their fraud.
Psychology and Mental Health
Sigmund Freud gained popularity in the 19th century for his groundbreaking studies on the intricacies of the human brain, his assessments of how people think, and how his brain affects their interactions with others. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis became the foundation for the modern understanding of complex mental functions in human beings and for evaluating and diagnosing disorders in the brain. Freud was also known for his work on repression, dreams, and the origins of sexual desire, which in some cases, have fallen out of favor in modern science but are still interesting to study. In The Pigman, the novel’s female protagonist Lorraine is fascinated with the Austrian neurologist and the study of psychology in general, using it as a lens through which she views the world and those around her. Through Lorraine’s character, the author establishes a theme of the importance of mental health by exploring the psychology behind cycles of abuse, alcoholism, and grief.
Though Lorraine has never seen a mental health professional—something that her mother would have never been able to afford—the teenager has a remarkably in-depth understanding of mental health dysfunction and the kinds of circumstances and experiences that could cause a person to develop anxiety, paranoia, and other cognitive disorders. She even recognizes her own need for therapy due to her mother’s incessant emotional abuse: “Freud would probably say it started with my mother picking on how I look all the time” (12). Aside from her self-diagnosis, Lorraine knows some potential coping strategies, such as how she deals with bullying on the school bus: “[…] and the psychiatrists would say this was healthy—I began to get mad!” (12) John finds Lorraine’s obsession with psychology annoying and pretentious, though her psychological assertions about him are mostly correct. He states, “You think you’re the perfect headshrinker with all those psychology books you read, and you really don’t know a thing” (31). John’s reference to Lorraine as a “shrink” reflect the attitudes of many people toward mental health in past eras, seeing it as useless or even dangerous sorcery. Lorraine’s vision of psychology reflects a more positive and contemporary view of mental health where people openly respect the value of talk therapy and other treatments for psychological disorders.
Despite ignoring her own need for mental health support, Lorraine sees others who could benefit from psychological treatment. Her appreciation for how the brain processes trauma makes her a more compassionate and empathetic individual. She sees her mother as a woman deeply wounded by men who lashes out at others because of her trauma. Lorraine recognizes Mr. Conlan’s struggle with alcohol abuse and his need for treatment to help not just himself but also his family heal from the lingering effects of the disease. Even Mr. Pignati could benefit from processing his grief with a professional instead of living alone in isolation. Finally, the narrative as a whole works as a confession from both John and Lorraine as if they are speaking to a therapist. Through their account of what happened with Mr. Pignati, they can work through not only their decision-making but also the motivations behind those decisions and hopefully come to a better understanding and acceptance of themselves and how to be a better person in the world, which is the goal of any path toward mental health and stability.
