The Pigman Summary

The Pigman The Pigman focuses on the idea of guilt and blame. John and Lorraine have both lied, felt guilt and were blamed at one point in the book, especially when they talk about the death of Mr. Pignati. An example was when “Lorraine can blame all the other things on me, but she was the one who picked out the Pigman’s phone number. If you ask me, I think he would have died anyway” (Zindel 20). John the narrator in chapter three is trying to comprehend why he and Lorraine were responsible for Mr. Pignati’s death. He doesn’t really think it is his fault and blaming it mostly on Lorraine. The author, Paul Zindel also wants the reader to decide who really is at fault of Mr. Pignati’s death. Lorraine was also guilty of blaming a classmate, Norton. Lorraine “[…] felt like saying one of us murdered Mr. Pignati, she would have blamed Norton. He’s the one who finally caused all the trouble” (Zindel 29). John and Lorraine are trying to blame other people that he was the direct cause of the death. However, it really was not his fault and the two friends were trying to cover up their guilt since they were with Mr. Pignati the most. Zindel also brings up the idea that people lie. John constantly lies whether it was in school or with Mr. Pignati. Lorraine says that “One time last term Miss King asked him what happened to the book report he was supposed to hand in on Johnny Tremain, and he told her that he had spilled some coffee on it the night before, and when the coffee dried, there was still sugar on the paper and so cockroaches ate the book report” (Zindel 26). John ends up lying so much to the point where he lies for the fun of it and hopes that people, especially teachers will believe him. There has been times were John and Lorraine have been honest with each other but they still lie to each other and Mr. Pignati. John Conlan is one of the narrators and protagonists of the book. He is a realistic 15 year that constantly has problems with his father, and lies to