Discussion Topic
Reasons John and Lorraine are writing about the Pigman
Summary:
John and Lorraine are writing about the Pigman to come to terms with their feelings of guilt and grief after his death. They aim to document their experiences and the impact he had on their lives, providing a sense of closure and understanding of their actions and the consequences.
What are John and Lorraine in The Pigman writing and for what reason?
John and Lorraine are high school friends who meet a man named Mr. Pignati. After developing a wonderfully loving friendship with him over a period of months, Mr. Pignati dies of a heart attack. But it isn't that simple, really, because John and Lorraine threw a teenage party at his house while he was in the hospital with the first attack. Lorraine feels that the shock of walking in on the party is what killed him. He did die soon after the party, probably from complications from the first heart attack, but Lorraine feels guilty anyway. John says that he mentions to Lorraine that they should write the whole story down to make her feel better. Specifically, he says the following:
". . . we might as well get this cursing thing over with too. I was a little annoyed at first since I was the one who suggested writing...
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this thing because I couldn't stand the miserable look on Lorraine's face ever since the Pigman died" (5).
Lorraine calls it a "memorial epic" because she wants to do something nice in memory of the sweet man who treated her like a daughter. John and Lorraine both have relationship issues with their parents, so as Mr. Pignati bought them things, took them to the zoo, and gave them wine, they truly appreciated him. Writing a story about their experience with Mr. Pignati is their tribute to him.
In The Pigman, how do Lorraine's and John's reasons for writing about the Pigman differ?
The Pigman is written from the first person perspective; however, the novel throws a bit of a twist on the narrative voice. Readers get two first person perspectives. John is our narrator for certain chapters, and Lorraine is our narrator for the other chapters, so we get a really cool change in perspective throughout the book. A good example of this changing perspective can be seen in the reason that John gives for writing about the Pigman versus what Lorraine tells us. John will tell us in chapter 1 that he suggested they write about the Pigman because he could not stand the depressed funk that Lorraine had been in since the Pigman died.
I was a little annoyed at first since I was the one who suggested writing this thing because I couldn’t stand the miserable look on Lorraine’s face ever since the Pigman died. She looked a little bit like a Saint Bernard that just lost its keg, but since she agreed to work on this, she’s gotten a little livelier and more opinionated.
John's reason for writing the book is to help Lorraine out. Lorraine's reason for writing the book is to preserve the memory of the Pigman and everything that has happened to them in the previous months.
It’s just that some very strange things have happened to us during the last few months, and we feel we should write them down while they’re fresh in our minds. It’s got to be written now before John and I mature and repress the whole thing.
Lorraine feels that the story needs to be written down, so the key details will not be forgotten. Her motivation is akin to making sure that things are written down for an accurate historical record. John simply wants to make Lorraine feel better.
While both John and Lorraine have different stated reasons for writing this story down, readers will see in chapter 3 that both John and Lorraine feel that the writing process is an effective tool to help them cope with their actions and the loss of a close friend.
Her eyes come to life the second we talk about it. Her wanting to be a writer is part of it, I guess, but I think we’re both a little anxious to get all that happened in place and try to understand why we did the crazy things we did.