Zindel does an excellent job of creating the primary characters, John Conlan, Lorraine Jensen, and Mr. Pignati. As Committee Chair Mary Long, a teacher-librarian at Wilson Middle School in Plano, Texas, said "Paul Zindel knows and understands the reality young adults deal with day-to-day. He has the ability to depict young adults in an honest and realistic way. The characters he developed nearly 40 years ago still speak to today's teens." ("2002 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner Paul Zindel.") Zindel creates his characters to search for a sense of who they are; they also look for a way to connect with others and understand the adult world in which they inhabit.
John, for instance, has a problem with almost any type of authority and adult-rule,
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this is clearly shown in how he acts towards his dad. He lies to his dad, as well as almost everybody, except Lorraine. “In school he spends his time setting off firecrackers in the bathroom and playing pranks on substitutes, though he says those days are behind him now.” (Shmoop Editorial Team) Although he is not respectful to the teachers, he is really smart and can get good grades when he wants to. In chapter two Lorraine says John is “extremely handsome” and in the next chapter John not-so-humbly agrees. However, he mostly uses his charm as a way to manipulate people. John also has a softer side, and deeply thinks about the meaning of life. In chapter two, Lorraine tells us that John would be "the last person on earth" to show that he has compassionate side. These feelings are hidden away during most of the story, but he does express them more openly near the end; his character is just a smidgen dynamic. Lorrain, on the other hand, is a compassionate, sensitive, and is very good in observing and interpreting others. Her goals are to become a writer, and she is especially interested in animals and psychology. Lorraine is cautious, and tries to halt John's wilder schemes; most notably, she tells John that he should not have a party in Mr. Pignati's house. (Shmoop Editorial Team) However, she is passive about her opinions, and when John disagrees, she quietly goes along. She often interprets unusual occurrences as omens, probably due to her interests in psychology and spirituality. Like John she is a great liar. This is most obvious in chapter four, where she carries on a fake conversation with Mr. Pignati, and also when she lies to her mother about going to the library and doing school work. Her mother's constant harsh criticisms do not help Lorraine's shyness and fragile self-confidence. According to John in chapter three, “The way her old lady talks you'd think Lorraine needed internal plastic surgery and seventeen body braces, but if you ask me, all she needs is a little confidence.” She is static throughout the book as she views situations the same way, albeit in a more guilty way. John and Lorraine became friends when he sat next to her one day on the school bus, and they started laughing together. John obviously likes Lorraine as a friend, but it is not clear that he has romantic feelings for her until he kisses her suddenly in chapter eleven, fairly late in the novel. All the same, John manipulates Lorraine, just as he manipulates everyone else. But they are best friends and care for each other very much; maybe opposites do attract. Also, in this book, we are given a pig collecting adult to help change these duo’s lives forever, who, against all odds, actually turns out to be pretty cool. Despite Lorraine and John's initial impressions, the Pigman becomes an important part of their life, connecting with them in a meaningful way when other adults, like their parents, do not. Mr. Pignati is a retired electrician in his late fifties, who lives alone. He is very lonely, and goes to the zoo everydays, to visit a baboon named Bobo whom he calls his best friend. He and his wife, Conchetta, had a lovely relationship full of jokes, gourmet food, and wine. They never had any children, and perhaps this is why he is so eager to treat John and Lorraine like his children; it seems like their presence fills a giant hole in his life. He mourns Conchetta's death and is seemingly lost without her. “In fact, at first, he tells John and Lorraine that Conchetta is simply on a long trip to California. Why does he lie like this? Is it because he doesn't want John and Lorraine to feel sorry for him, or because he can't face her death himself?” (Shmoop Editorial Team) There are three main themes in The Pigman: guilt and blame, destiny or choice, and family. There are many different reasons to show that guilt and blame is the most prevalent theme. First of all, Lorraine blames John for Mr. Pignati’s death, and although John feels guilty, he insists that Mr. Pignati would have died under the circumstances anyways. The Pigman asks us to think about who is ultimately responsible for a bad outcome. Can these people be responsible for something they did not intentionally cause? Or who is most responsible for that outcome? Can responsibility even be determined? When John says that Mr. Pignati had “trespassed and paid with his life” in chapter fifteen, he is saying that Mr. Pignati is to blame for his own death. In Mr. Pignati’s husband-wife-lover-boatman-assassin game the players have to decide who is most responsible for the murder; this game also poses the question of who is most responsible for Mr. Pignati’s death. The guilt and blame theme carves out John and Lorraine’s characters, and we get to see them change as a result of the guilt they feel and the blame they cast. (Shmoop Editorial Team) The theme of fate or destiny also plays a big part in this novel. Paul Zindel seems to ask the question: “How much of life is coincidental, forcing each of us to deal with it as it unfolds and how much of our lives can be blamed upon our active or passive involvement in what goes on around us?” ("The Pigman Themes/Mood/Biography by Paul Zindel.") Lorraine, for example, is very thoughtful with all the “omens” foreshadowing unhappiness, coming problems, or even death. She believes that if she had recognized them as they occurred, their tragic experience might not have happened. On the other hand, John accepts the reality that they have created their own sorrow and must now deal with the consequences. Lorraine eventually understands the truth about destiny as well: we are our own destinies. The final theme in this book is the theme of family and friends. In The Pigman we see two dysfunctional families and one seemingly happy family of John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati. This makes us ask, what is a family? John's and Lorraine's neglect and abuse from their biological parents have damaged them. Mr. Pignati does not have children, therefore he spoils John and Lorraine with presents and attention. Lorraine and John have never had a kind, generous father-figure, so they take on the role of Mr. Pignati's children. In many ways, Mr. Pignati also treats Bobo like a son, feeding him, caring for him, and talking sweetly to him. This implies that even animals can be a part of a family and that a loving person can overlook many differences. Zindel uses any literary devices in The Pigman to try to convey his thoughts and story.
First and most obvious is the extensive use of symbolism. Mr. Pignati's pig collection seems to symbolize his happy life with Conchetta, beautiful and fragile. When the collection was smashed, this symbolized Mr. Pignati’s death and the end of his will to live. The three monkeys in the pet’s department give a reference to John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati’s friendship. Lorraine plainly says it herself in chapter eight, “We must have looked just like three monkeys. The Pigman, John, and me—three funny little monkeys.” According to the Shmoop, “The monkeys, at the zoo, of course, are in literal cages. But nearly every character is in a metaphorical cage. John feels trapped by his father's expectation that John will become a businessman like himself; John's father is trapped in his narrow world at the Coffee Exchange; John's mother is trapped by her obsession with cleaning; Lorraine is trapped by her mother's suspicions; Lorraine's mother is trapped in her awful job; Mr. Pignati is trapped in his grief over his wife's death.” (Shmoop Editorial Team) There is a flashback of John’s early years in high school in most of the first chapter; this is where he shows how he has changed. Foreshadowing is used in the games that they play and in the death and circumstances of others in the story. The point of view alternates between John and Lorraine every chapter, this helps to give it a more balanced viewpoint as well as appeal to both genders. There is a good amount of humor in the narrations of John and Lorraine, as they light-heartedly tackle many serious matters. These literary devices and many more are used by Paul Zindel extensively in The
Pigman. The Pigman ended up being so successful that it became a trilogy. It was one of the first young adult books to gain a vast readership. Whether it be the situation, the characters, the theme or even the plot, many people can make references from the book into their real lives; I can make one personally. And for many years to come, in the hearts and minds of many readers, The Pigman’s legacy will continue to live on.
There is a lot of symbolism in the Pigman writing by Paul Zindel. The three monks symbolism means Lorraine, John, and Mr. Pignati friendship. One example of the friendship of Lorraine, John and Mr.pignati is when he has a heart attack Lorraine and John skips school to go see him. The three monkeys symbolism you can find it in the Pigman. My conclusion is that the three monkey symbolism is in the Pigman.
The Pigman by Paul Zindel is a book that has many symbols, and means of those symbols can be explained to the farthest extent. This will talk about some of the many symbols that are used in this story.
Wilson, Nance S. “ZINDEL, Paul.” Continuum Encyclopedia Of Children’s Literature (2003): 848-849. Literary Reference Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Ever since we’ve had the ability to learn, we have been taught to be kind and considerate, to always smile and live in hope of tomorrow. Fairytales and storybooks have happy endings, where the ones who live humbly always win at the end. But is that the truth? Through The Pigman, Paul Zindel is able to show us the reality of life and how necessities like love are nothing more than a mere lie.
The character Piggy in William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies serves as the intellectual balance to the emotional leaders of a group of shipwrecked British boys. Ironically, their new society values physical qualities over intellectual attributes whereas it is the rational actions that will lead to their survival. Piggy's actions and the reactions from his fellow survivors foreshadow his eventual death. Lord of the Flies is overflowing with creative symbolism, surrounding every event and character; Piggy is no exception. From being the representation of scholars to the comparison with Prometheus, Golding ensures Piggy's short life is well remembered.
They started out not very trusting Mr.Pignati, but then they found out he wasn’t such a bad guy. They started to visit him more often and became good friends with him. They went shopping and to the zoo and played memory games with each other. They went roller balding together and Mr.
Golding uses chapter eight to show the changes within Ralph and Piggy. The experience on the island has caused them to mature early, and Golding develops this maturity in order to provide the reader with a believable story and memorable characters. He develops the characters through vivid details, distinct diction, simple syntax, and congested figurative language.
Have you ever wondered what the wolf's side of The Three Little Pigs story was? Well, Jon Scieszka gives his readers the opportunity to see a different perspective dealing with this very circumstance. In many of his books, including The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf, Scieszka has used this style of writing that varies from the norm. Every turn of the page gives rise to new wonder and suspense as to what the reader will encounter as he or she moves through the pages of this intriguing book. Many of us grew up hearing fairy tales and nursery rhymes and most of us accepted them the way that they were. However, Jon Scieszka likes to take his readers on "adventures" through the "other side." He twists well-known stories around just enough to challenge the view that we have had for so long, yet not so much that we are unable to realize what story he is "imitating" or "mocking."
Frederick is written in a third person’s point of view. The narrator is not Frederick or one of the other field mice in the story, but rather an outside person, or perhaps a mouse, who tells the story. By telling the sto...
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
The Pigman by Paul Zindel is about the lives of an old man, Mr.Pigman, and two teenagers, John and Lorraine. John and Lorraine were two “normal” children that went to school and had a rough time in their homes. The growing bond between John and Lorraine all started when one day John and Lorraine met on the school bus one morning. Due to the fact that the first time they met was on a school bus, there was no room for mortification to occur. Soon after, John started getting himself into trouble at school. Basically, John started setting off small explosives of all sorts during the afternoon hours of the day, which then lead him to receive the nickname “Bathroom Bomber.” On the other hand, Lorraine was a very well-rounded young lady that wrote as an avocation. As the
In Orwell's Animal Farm, the animals revolt against the cruel human leaders and set up a better method of farm management where all animals are equal. As time passes, the new leaders become greedy and corrupt, and the other animals realize conditions are just as miserable as before. There is a major connection between Animal Farm and Russian communism. The pigs are one of the most significant of these connections, representing the communist rulers of Russia, like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Their traits, personalities, and actions are similar to the actual men in power. In the novel Animal Farm, the pigs represent the communist leaders of Russia in the early 1900s.
There are teenagers around the world who do not have very engaging relationships with adults. Throughout the book the two teenagers made many decisions that affected another person. On the Contrary, in The Pigman by Paul Zindel, John Colan and Lorraine Jensen discovered by the end that the decisions they made influenced the time that the elder and more wiser character Mr. Pignati had on earth.As the characters change Zindel shows how Mr. Pignati is not “young” by specifying every flaw on his personality and physical awareness. Zindel implies his own personal experience by: demonstrating them in his work, and adding emotional appeal to his writing. To clarify, the memory that John and Lorraine are trying to repress is the day the Pigman dies
A book about friendships, and a movie about the contrast between conformity and personal freedom. These are the descriptions of the literary works that will be compared and contrasted in this essay. The climatic book, The Pigman, and the inspiring movie, The Dead Poets Society. Both literary works contain several themes such as realism, mortality, and individuality. In this essay, Mortality will be the theme. The Pigman and the Dead Poets Society are very similar in background of the theme, but different in influences. The background of both stories have connections in it because of the topic, death. In influences, they differentiate by the outcomes that happens. Although there are more things to explain in comparison between the two literary
Peter Lisca’s analysis on “Motif and Pattern in Of Mice and Men” clarifies that Steinbeck’s misunderstood usage of symbols, actions, and language convey motifs and patterns that connects the beginning of the book to the end. Lisca implies that the first and primary usage of symbolism was the area near the river where the story initiated and ended. He insinuates that the cave that Lennie mentioned twice and the river George ordered Lennie to visit when in danger symbolizes as “a safe place” and innocence while becoming “translated into terms possible in the real world” (Lisca 1). In addition, Lisca also advocates that the rabbits serve as symbols to dramatize Lennie’s devotion for his safe place, but also to “define the basis of what desire on a very low level” (Lisca 2).