Pigman

= The Pigman By Paul Zindel  =



The Pigman is a young adult novel published in 1968. It was written by the prolific author, Paul Zindel.

[|Paul Zindel] was born in New York City on May 15, 1956 and died on March 27, 2003. After college he taught high school chemestry and physics and wrote plays on the side to satisfy his need to write. During this time he won the Pulitzer Prize for his first play: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. In 1969 Paul Zindel quit teaching alltogether, believing he could be of more benefit to young adults through his writing. He wrote The Pigman based on his own experience as a young adult growing up in Staten Island with his mother and sister. Mr. Zindel admits that his teachers and schools were a primary influence on his writing of The Pigman. He believes this novel is great for teaching students by making connections to what they are familiar with. Responsibility is the key theme he pulls from the story: “that we are responsible for our lives, we create our own cages—and our own freedoms.” Other books that have similar story plots might include those that deal with young adult’s truancy issues, kids befriending elderly adults, young adults with drinking or smoking issues, or kids with divorced parents. Some titles to consider: [|Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone] [|Huckleberry Fin] The Outsiders [|To Kill a Mocking Bird] [|Truancy]

=** Characters **= John and Lorraine are two high school students and are the main characters in this novel. Throughout the trials and troubles they encounter while befriending Mr. Pignati, they both learn that it is time to leave their childish ways behind as they unwantingly mature in this story. Mr. Pignati is the tender widower, and the elderly gentleman that John and Lorraine, meet and befriend by accident, while playing a childish phone prank game. Mr. Pignati, or "Pigman" as he affectionately calles himself, is a lonely, attention starved, friendly, old man that misses his wife and has a baboon at the zoo as his only real friend.

= Setting = The Pigman takes place in Staten Island, NY in the cold winter of the early 1960's. The characters live in a middle class neighborhood, and attend public school when they're not cutting class to spend time with their new friend, the Pigman.

= Plot = John and Lorraine strike up a friendship with an elderly gentleman that teaches them some good life lessons. The elderly gentleman is affectionately known as "Pigman". The Pigman had a large collection of antique pigs. "There were pigs that had Made in Japan on them. Some were from Germany and Austria and Switzerland. There were pigs from Russia and lots of pigs from Italy, natuarally..." Throughout the novel the characters confront such issues as truancy, smoking, drinking, lying, difficult home lives, and dealing with death for their first time.

Theme
The main themes form the novel //The Pigman// are responcibility and importance and the meaning of their relationships as they navigate lifes ups and downs.

= Genre = The genre of The Pigman falls under the category of realistic fiction, as author Paul Zindel pulls from his own childhood experiences in Staten Island, New York.


 * = Issues for young adults = || = The Pigman = ||
 * Compassion || Yes ||
 * Dating norms || Yes ||
 * Death || Yes ||
 * Divorce || Yes ||
 * Financial responsibility || Yes ||
 * Forgiveness || Yes ||
 * Friendship || Yes ||
 * Homosexuality || No ||
 * Premarital sex || No ||
 * Racial tension || No ||
 * Responcibility || Yes ||
 * Smoking || Yes ||
 * Truancy || Yes ||
 * Under age drinking || Yes ||
 * Violence || Yes ||
 * Appropriate Age || 13 - 18 years old ||



= Links = [|Paul Zindel Homepage]

[|High School Project on The Pigman]

[|High School Video Pigman]

=Review = =As part of the Christian over- forty- something crowd, with children of my own, I found that I disliked many of the things in this book that I would have viewed as wrong, sinful, illegal, disrespectful, or rude. At first I could only imagine my own children picking up any number of those bad habits just from reading what the main characters in this book portrayed as adventurous. I had to talk to my kids, and do some real soul searching after reading this book. After a great internal debate, I realized that if we try as educators, to repress the knowledge of differing thoughts or actions of the children we teach, by sheltering them from different life styles, different eras, different socioeconomically, or different situations, and they in turn don’t ever get a chance to see how others live or lived, then we are doing them a huge injustice. We are creating separatists, isolationists, and fueling racial tensions because of our own fear and ignorance. I am not advocating pushing everything out there on our children, I still believe that there are many, just plain old bad literature works out there, and still more that are in poor taste, but I am willing to investigate some of the works I once deemed unthinkable, and look deeper into what good, if any could be pulled from them. As a future educator, I can see that there are some good things that can be taught from this novel, such as friendship, trust, respect, kindness, cause and effect, and sorrow. It is a quick read, with many powerful underlying themes. I would recommend it! =

Brenda Schuchardt Baker College - Muskegon, Michigan