Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pigman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death and Grief
Personal Responsibility
Family
Loneliness
Compassion
Summary
Analysis
Lorraine narrates this chapter. After leaving the Pigman’s house, John makes Lorraine accompany him to Tony’s Market—Tony will sell beer to anyone, and the police never bother him about it. Lorraine urges John to rip up the check, but John reasons that if they don’t cash it, Mr. Pignati will know something is fishy and call the police. At Tony’s, Lorraine buys a chocolate drink—with her own money—while John cashes the check and uses it to buy beer and a pack of cigarettes. Lorraine waits for him to feel guilty, but he doesn’t.
Tony’s choice to sell alcohol to minors is, of course, illegal, but from a thematic perspective, it highlights what the book’s teenage characters want but rarely get: adults who treat them as equals and listen when they voice their needs (though again, John’s desire to drink beer like an adult isn’t a need Tony should be meeting).
Themes
John asks Lorraine if she wants to go to the zoo. Lorraine, angry, says no. John calls her a killjoy and reasons that they owe it to Mr. Pignati, since they stole from him. When Lorraine starts to argue, John smiles and calls Lorraine “a little schizo today.”
It speaks to the depth of Lorraine’s loneliness that she willfully hangs out with someone who so consistently manipulates her and invalidates her feelings, though readers should note that the book seems to present John’s behavior as harmless “acting out” rather than manipulative cruelty.
Themes
When Lorraine returns home at 6:30 that evening, she’s shocked to find that Lorraine’s mother, a private nurse, is already home. Lorraine’s dad is never there, ever since they got a legal separation 15 years ago, and then Lorraine’s dad died six years ago. Lorraine’s mother asks Lorraine where she’s been. Lorraine lies that she went to a drama-club meeting and then to Stryker’s Luncheonette. Lorraine’s mom is mad—she told Lorraine not to go there, since there are sex-hungry boys there. Lorraine thinks her mom is pretty hung up about men. Lorraine’s mom grumbles about an old man she was caring for who just died of cancer. She brushes her hair, which makes Lorraine sad; Lorraine’s mom is a pretty woman, but she’s troubled and mean, and Lorraine wonders how she got to be this way.
This scene gives insight into Lorraine’s earlier fear that Mr. Pignati could be “a sex maniac”—it seems that Lorraine’s mother has instilled in her daughter a belief that the world is a dangerous place full of sex-crazed males. Though Lorraine doesn’t make the connection explicitly, it seems clear that her mother is really just projecting her own hurt feelings over her separation from Lorraine’s father years before. This section also shows the big role that death plays in Lorraine’s life: her father died many years ago, and her mother works with (and talks freely about) dying patients. Still, Lorraine’s mother doesn’t seem all that open to talking to Lorraine about how death and discussion of death affects her daughter, which isn’t ideal.
Themes
Lorraine’s mom tells Lorraine to heat up some water for coffee, then she follows Lorraine into the kitchen. She hands Lorraine two dollars for her school dues and grumbles about how hard and expensive it is to raise a child on her own; she can’t even afford new nylons, she says, gesturing toward the ratty old pair she’s wearing under her bathrobe. Lorraine’s mother asks Lorraine to stay home from school tomorrow to help her clean the house, but Lorraine says she can’t—she has a Latin test tomorrow. Irritated, Lorraine’s mom protests that Lorraine will never need to know how to speak Latin in the real world. Lorraine keeps quiet, not wanting to incite her mother. She reminds her that she did the laundry yesterday, but it’s not good enough for her mother. Lorraine wonders what her mother would think if she knew Lorraine wants to be a writer when she grows up.
Though it is of course difficult to raise a child—and especially as a single mother struggling to make ends meet—it’s unfair of Lorraine’s mother to put this on Lorraine, who is just a child. Like John, Lorraine doesn’t seem to get the emotional support she needs from a parent, and it’s clearly had a major effect on her. Lorraine’s mother’s suggestion that Lorraine skip her Latin test to stay home and clean further shows how Lorraine’s wellbeing isn’t Lorraine’s mother’s chief concern. And the effect of this is that Lorraine doesn’t feel comfortable opening up to her mother about anything personal, such as her dream of becoming a writer.
Themes
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Lorraine’s mother goes to bed, and Lorraine calls John. She hears yelling in the background; John yells at his dad about accusing him of gluing the telephone lock and tells Lorraine that his parents don’t trust him. Lorraine tells John that they can go to the zoo tomorrow after all—she changed her mind and thinks she needs a day off.
John complains that his parents don’t trust him—without admitting that they have reason not to trust him. Once more, he demonstrates his unwillingness to take responsibility for his own actions.
Themes
John and Lorraine cut school the next day, which is easy, since Deanna Deas, who works in the Dean’s office, has a crush on John and won’t say anything. John called the Pigman and told him to meet them at the zoo at ten o’clock that morning. They arrive early and sit on a bench. Lorraine polishes her Ben Franklin sunglasses, which make people look at her. She never used to wear eye-catching clothes, but she’s worn these ever since meeting John, who’s always wearing zany, attention-grabbing accessories. Lorraine doesn’t really want to be at the zoo—she’s an animal person and hates seeing them trapped in their cages.
Lorraine’s quirky glasses are a visual reminder of her willingness to go along with whatever John wants for the sake of his friendship. Lorraine doesn’t like to stick out—and she doesn’t even want to be at the zoo—yet she does these things anyway to keep John hanging out with her. Once more, the book underscores the suffering that loneliness causes and the human need for friendship and connection. Lorraine’s sympathy for the caged zoo animals further highlights her compassionate nature.
Themes
A short while later, Mr. Pignati arrives and greets them, a wide, excited smile on his face. He asks if they want any snacks. Thinking back, Lorraine realizes there were bad omens about how all this would end even during the zoo visit, but she had no way of knowing it then. The first bad omen is when the woman selling peanuts is antagonistic toward Lorraine—Lorraine thinks the woman probably hates kids. The second bad omen is when a peacock, determined to steal Lorraine’s peanuts, attacks her. And the third omen happens when they go to the nocturnal room of the Mammal House and see a weird little kid there. Instead of staring at the vampire bats, he stares at Lorraine, a smirk on his face, as though she’s the animal in the cage.
Lorraine’s fixation on bad omens seems a product of her mother’s warped view of the world. She’s effectively taught her daughter that the world is a bad place where danger lurks around every corner, and as a result, Lorraine has become anxious and afraid of a lot of things and unable to enjoy what would otherwise be a low-stakes, fun trip to the zoo.
Themes
But John and Mr. Pignati remain unaware of these omens and have a great time. In the snake house, Lorraine lets them go on ahead as she investigates a “snake quiz” on the wall. After they’re finished looking at the reptiles, Mr. Pignati announces that he’d like John and Lorraine to meet Bobo, his “best friend.” Mr. Pignati leads them to the monkey house and stops outside a large cage. “Bobo?” calls Mr. Pignati. Finally, an ugly, mean-looking baboon emerges and walks toward Mr. Pignati. Mr. Pignati tosses peanuts to Bobo, who screeches and bares his monstrous teeth. Sometimes he catches the peanuts. Sensing that Mr. Pignati is going to spend a while with Bobo, Lorraine and John move on ahead, but Mr. Pignati hardly notices.
Interspecies friendships can of course be highly rewarding and meaningful, but it does seem rather sad that Mr. Pignati’s “best friend” is a mean old baboon who seems invested in the friendship mostly for the peanuts Mr. Pignati throws his way. With this scene, it becomes even more apparent why Mr. Pignati is so enthusiastic to hang out with John and Lorraine: he’s starved for human connection and incredibly lonely.
Themes
John and Lorraine leave the monkey house and ride a train-like contraption around the zoo to pass the time. But when they return to the monkey house, Mr. Pignati is still tossing peanuts to Bobo. John decides to chat with a nearby gorilla. Lorraine joins in, calling out, “Uggauggaboo.” Before long, Mr. Pignati joins in, as do Bobo and some of the neighboring chimpanzees. Lorraine thinks they’re going to make the roof of the monkey house collapse. When it’s time to leave, Mr. Pignati tells Bobo he’ll miss him. Bobo’s face falls when he realizes he won’t get any more peanuts that day.
This moment, however silly, marks a key development in John and Lorraine’s relationship with Mr. Pignati. Screeching like monkeys together is a bonding experience for them all. It seems that what began as an impersonal, thoughtless attempt to scam an unsuspecting stranger could develop into something more meaningful, perhaps even a genuine friendship.
Themes
