The Pigman Study Guide

Paul Zindel was born in Staten Island, New York in 1936. His father was a police officer, and his mother was a nurse. Zindel studied chemistry at Wagner College and went on to work as a chemical writer after graduation. After quitting his job as a chemical writer, he worked as a high school science teacher for 10 years. He released his first play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds in 1964, and it was met with much success. The play ran on Broadway in 1971 and would earn Zindel the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Zindel married psychotherapist and writer Bonnie Hildebrand in 1973, and the couple had two children together: Lizabeth Zindel, a novelist; and David Zindel, a publisher. Following the success of his first play, Zindel went on to write 53 books, most of them for children or young adult readers. Most take place in his hometown of Staten Island and are partially autobiographical, featuring misunderstood teenagers who come from dysfunctional, neglectful, or abusive homes (Zindel’s father abandoned the family when Zindel was very young, and his mother struggled to support the family on her own). Zindel’s books for young readers combine serious subjects like loneliness, abuse, and loss with eccentric humor. In addition to The Pigman, which is among Zindel’s most popular and widely taught books in the U.S., he has also written My Darling, My Hamburger (1969), Pardon Me, You’re Stepping on My Eyeball! (1976), and The Pigman’s Legacy (1981), a sequel to The Pigman. Zindel died in New York City of lung cancer in 2003 at the age of 66.

The Pigman was published in 1968. The book’s protagonists, John and Lorraine, come of age in the 1960s, a period that was defined by intense social and political unrest and a rapidly shifting cultural landscape, largely shaped by the ongoing Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the feminist movement. In 1960 in the U.S., nearly half of the population was under 18 years of age, giving way to an increasingly influential youth culture. Many young people of this generation (among them The Pigman’s John and Lorraine) felt alienated by the conservative values that society (and their parents) forced on them, and they rebelled against the status quo by participating in the counterculture movement, which gained traction alongside the ongoing civil rights movement and other ongoing social and political shifts. The counterculture movement was defined by rebellion, with young people rejecting the conservative views of human sexuality, gender roles, obedience to authority, and materialism that earlier generations largely embraced. The rebelliousness and alienation that John and Lorraine exhibit in The Pigman embodies the spirit of 1960s youth culture in the U.S.

At the time of their initial publication, Zindel’s books for young adults were unusual in their portrayal of serious, often dark subject matter for young adult audiences. My Darling, My Hamburger (1969) deals with subjects of teenage sexuality, pregnancy, and abortion. Like The Pigman, Pardon Me, You’re Stepping on My Eyeball! (1976) also takes place in Staten Island and follows the story of two teenage social outcasts dealing with dysfunctional families. Confessions of a Teenage Baboon (1977) is a semiautobiographical coming-of-age novel that tells the story of Chris, a 15-year-old boy whose father abandoned his family and whose mother works as a nurse, just like Zindel’s own parents. The novel follows Chris as he learns to let go of his absent father and deals with issues of insecurity, illness, and loss. Other books for young readers that deal with serious subject matter include Speak (1999) by Laurie Halse Anderson, which deals with issues of rape, social ostracization, bullying, and overcoming trauma. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010) by Ned Vizzini is about a 15-year-old boy who is hospitalized following a suicide attempt. The book grapples with serious issues like eating disorders, depression, and self-mutilation. The book is semiautobiographical, based on Vizzini’s own hospitalization for depression.