The Pigman Essay

-lorraine’s mom being strict led to her lying a ton

-john and lorraine lying to the pigman led to his heart attack

-what mr. pignati’s death caused

“The Pigman” by Paul Zindel follows two teenagers named John and Lorraine and their newfound friendship with Mr. Pignati, a senile old man whom the kids fooled. They form a friendship after meeting through a prank call. As the story progresses, Zindel tends to stress the fact that every action has its own set of outcomes. The theme of this story is that actions always have consequences. This is evident many times throughout the story. For example, when John and Lorraine lied to Mr. Pignati, when Lorraine’s mother was too strict, and when Mr. Pignati died. These situations all involved bad decisions

Pignati about being in a charity eventually led to his heart attack. “‘We’re high-school kids,’ John added a little nervously. ‘We’re sorry we lied to you.’ The pigman looked so sad, and it didn’t seem like it was just because of our confession” (91). When the kids eventually admitted to Mr. Pignati that they were not charity workers, they clearly upset him. Their whole friendship came from a lie. Furthermore, Mr. Pignati already had a lot on his plate. His wife had died and he was still finding a way to cope with it. However, because they admitted the truth, they got even closer. Revealing that they were really high school students allowed them to start over. Mr. Pignati could see the kids as actual kids and not adult friends. While roller skating with John and Lorraine, Mr. Pignati has a heart attack: “He started to double over-his eyes fastened on me-gaping like a fish out of water. Then he pressed his right hand to his chest and fell to the bottom of the stairs” (99). Even though Mr. Pignati had a heart attack while skating, it was more than just the exercise. He had just faced many emotions due to the death of his wife and finding out that the kids lied to him. All of this including his old age was too much for him to take. Ultimately, the kids being untruthful and deceiving Mr. Pignati led him to have a heart

Pignati’s death resulted in many emotions and thoughts, especially in John’s head. After Mr. Pignati finds out Bobo is dead, he too dies: “It was like a high-pitched scream, but it came from deep inside of him, and before John or I knew what had happened, the Pigman dropped to the floor” (142). Mr. Pignati had just faced a lot of obstacles and truths within a short amount of time. He found out the kids lied, he lied about his wife, the kids had a party, and his best friend Bobo died. Accounting for his old age, all these things led to both his heart attacks and death. Mr. Pignati’s death made John think about his decisions: “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” (149). In this story, John was often portrayed as a boy who was disrespectful, blunt, and lacked sympathy. Even so, Mr. Pignati’s death caused John to be in a very vulnerable state. He truly cared for Mr. Pignati and knew that he and Lorraine were wrong to fool him. He also claimed that he and Lorraine had trespassed into Mr. Pignati’s home and life. This is because they should not have been friends with a man as old as Mr. Pignati. Hence, John realized and learned a lot about himself because of Mr. Pignati’s