Editor's Choice
In The Pigman, why does Lorraine despise the Baron Park Zoo?
Quick answer:
Lorraine despises the Baron Park Zoo because she is saddened by the caged animals and perceives the attendants as uninspired and insensitive. She is disturbed by the way an attendant feeds sea lions without enthusiasm, which she finds crude. Lorraine also dislikes the zoo because it reminds her of confinement, and she feels guilty for conning Mr. Pignati. Her negative feelings are compounded by superstitions and traumatic events, including Mr. Pignati's death at the zoo.
Lorraine hates the Baron Park Zoo because she does not enjoy seeing the animals caged up and she feels that the park attendants are often detached and unmotivated caretakers who complete the motions of their daily jobs with very little inspiration. For example, she observes that they display very little inclination to engage the animals when they feed them.
One particular incident which illustrates this is how one attendant feeds the sea lions at Baron Park Zoo. Lorraine relates that the attendant merely drops the fish 'unimaginatively' into the tank. She thinks that the attendant should have made a game out of it or tried to make feeding time fun for the sea lions. Lorraine believes that if her mother had ever allowed her to have a dog, that dog 'would have been the happiest dog on earth.' This is because Lorraine is sure that she knows how the minds...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
of animals work and understands just the kind of games they enjoy playing.
In The Pigman, why does Lorraine hate the zoo?
Lorraine dislikes going to the zoo because it makes her sad to see "all those animals and birds and fish behind bars and glass just so a lot of people can stare at them". She is most likely imagining herself in their place, and she knows that she would not like being confined like that, and that she certainly would not want a lot of people just watching her all day.
Lorraine particularly hates going to the Baron Park Zoo. She thinks the attendants there are "not intelligent". Lorraine remembers that she was especially annoyed a few years ago when she witnessed the way an attendant fed the sea lions. He "climbed up on the big diving platform in the middle of the pool and unimaginatively just dropped the fish into the water". To Lorraine, his manner and nonchalant attitude in feeding the sea lions was crude and insensitive. She could just imagine the poor sea lions saying, "Don't dump the fish in...pick the fish up one by one and throw them into the air so we can chase after them...throw the fish in different parts of the tank...let's have fun!" (Chapter 6).
Lorraine is a sensitive individual, and she is not afraid to voice her opinion when she thinks that something is not the way it should be. She believes that the animals at the zoo should be treated more humanely, and it angers and frustrates her to see that they are not.
In Zindel's The Pigman, why doesn't Lorraine like the Baron Park Zoo?
Lorraine is nervous to be skipping school to meet John and Mr. Pignati at the zoo. She's also feeling a bit guilty because she and John had conned him out of $10.00 for a fake charity. In fact, John argued that they should go to the zoo in order to make up for the con. So, Lorraine isn't at the zoo without some burdens on her shoulders. Additionally, it's not that Lorraine hates the zoo at first, but she is a little superstitious when she witnesses three events that she calls omens.
First, she doesn't trust Mr. Pignati's enthusiasm for their day at the zoo. She says, "I felt sorry for the old man because people just don't go around smiling like that all the time" (57). Her next clue that the day was not going to be a good one was when the lady selling peanuts seemed to be "antagonistic" (58). Lorraine thinks she should have left right after the experience with the peanut lady because that was the first bad omen.
The second bad omen is when she is "attacked" by a peacock. Mr. Pignati says that the bird simply likes her and she shouldn't be scared, though. The bird terrifies her as follows:
"This low-IQ peacock came tearing after me as soon as it heard me open my bag of peanuts. They let them run around loose at Baron Park Zoo, and this white one opened up all its feathers and started dancing in front of me and backing me up against a fence" (58).
The final bad omen is when Lorraine visits the nocturnal room and sees a ten year-old kid looking at people's reflections as they walk in. When she walks up to look at the bats, this kid watches her with a smirk on his face. She explains:
"He made me feel as though I was a bat in a cage and he was on the outside looking at me. It all made me very nervous" (59).
By the end of the story, though, the worst tragedy happens at the zoo. While visiting it again with Mr. Pignati, the three friends discover that Bobo the baboon has died. This upsetting news throws the old man into another heart attack and he dies right there at the zoo. That's enough for anyone to hate going to that zoo ever again.