Welcome to Book Talk! Students in Mrs. Kuhn's 7th and 8th Grade Core class are invited (and required) to participate in this online book club.
We will use this page to post our thoughts and reflections about novels that we are studying together and independently. Let's talk!
When I first started to read the first chapter, I didn't quite understand who was talking, and what was the boy's characteristics. When I read the next chapter, I understood it. The first chapter was tolf by John, and the next chapter, was told by John's friend Lorraine. They took turns writting. Until page 30, I can see that John and Lorraine are adventurous sophomores, who became best friends accidentaly. The second chapter talks about how Lorraine and John got to become friends. As I said, they became friends accidentaly, in the bus, they took to go to school. When you start to read forward, you get more interested in the book, and wants to continue. The author caught our attention, thats a very good technique.
Regarding Natasha's post: Yes, you are right. The author, Paul Zindel, chooses to switch the narrator each chapter. Why do you think Zindel does this? Does Zindel's writing style change when he writes as John versus when he writes as Lorraine? How?
Responding to Mrs. Kuhn: I think the author changes the narrator each chapter because, he wants to explore ideas about both main characters. For me he does that so he can have different opinions about the same subject and compare their ideas. Then he can give more juicy details, according to each characters characteristics. I love the way the author express his ideas in the novel. I also think that Zindel´writting style changes through out each chapter. If John is a trouble make, and loves adventures, than he is going to write the chapter in the characters own words, according to his characteristic.
On page 40 John says "If we don´t cash it, he´ll know something was funny and really call the police," he told me with typical John Conlan logic . When John says that, I though and reflected. I could see that he really wanted to cash the money, because it was typically what a sophomore would do. He just invented that so he could prove to Lorainne that it was better to cash the money, the fastest they could. At that point Lorainne didn´t talk to John for five minutes. John buys a drinks and cigarretes, with the cash money. He didn´t feel even guilty! Using a mans money that he gave for lieying. I think that is the way boys act.
Responding to Mrs. Kuhn: When the author changes the style of how he writes ,he is trying to show how John would write the chapter and how Lorraine would write it. By that, we readers, can visualize the mind of the characters. Each chapter surves as a scene. The author choses which caracter would probably start the book, and then he would continue with the pattern. By each character writting chapter, the author does not need to describe how the the sophmore´s characteristic are, but just describe him physically. Readign this book gets more intetresting every time. The way the author wrote the book, grabs the readers atttention, to continue reading until you finish it.
As Natasha said, when I first started reading the book, I got a little bit confused because I didn´t know who was talking when. After the first 3 chapters, I realized that the protagonists, John and Lorraine, were taking turns writing the chapters. The book until now has just some air of suspense, which is what role is Mr.Pignati going to plain in the story and how is he going to die. Im really enjoying the book until now because, even though it doesn´t have MUCH suspense in it, it has something that makes the reader always wanting to keep on reading the book to see what´s going to happen next.
I think the author is doing this type of writing to show different perspectives of the story, to keep things interesting and new for the reader. Things in the story seem to keep changing and it I think it was smart for the author to have done what he did.
I disagree about this book not having suspense, as many things are occuring at the moment and you do want to know when and how mr. Pignati will die. Also you kind of want to know what's wrong with him as various times in the book Lorraine and John state that he looked lonely and he kind of looked like a psycho maniac. I think that this book is VERY interesting ans suspenseful.
I think this book is great, and at the point that I'm at anything can happen. The author of this book has left a large variety of possibilities that can happen. We do know that the pigman is going to die sometime in the book, we just do not know when or how, which I think puts a lot of suspense into the book which makes it very fun to read. It makes you want to skip to the end to read how he dies, but that would totally ruin the story. Over all I think this book could go any direction at the moment.
*responding to mrs.kuhn* I think the author choose to take turns with john and lorraine writing one chapter each because then both of them could say things from their own point of view and have different opinions about it, which makes the book much more interesting. Paul Zindel changes the style he writes when he is john by talking more about boy´s stuff. He also changes his style of writing when its Lorraine by talking more about her personal life, for example her mom, etc.
I agree with scott. The book is great until now, and we are at the point where we can´t know for sure what is going to happen. in my previous post, i stated that the book didnt have much suspense, which does not mean that it doesnthave any. It certainly does, and that one of the things that makes us want to keep on reading to find out some things, like how is the pigman going to die, or about his wife.
This may not be a great book topic statement, but I think that th book cover on this book is completely inaccurate. The two people on the cover are supposed to be John and Lorraine. John is supposed to have light brown hair and blue eyes. You can not see his eyes, but his hair is black, which doesn't really make sense. Then Lorraine is supposed to be somewhat fat, and on the cover she isn't fat at all. I think the illustrator should read the book before making the picture, and the author should approve of the picture before the book is published.
*responding to natasha* I agree with you. I think that the author does this to explore different ideas from both protagonists, to see how each one sees it differently. I really like it that the author did that and the book is really good until now.
Why does the Pigman waste all his money, buying things to Lorraine and John? I know that he is lonely, but wasting his money will not change a big thing. Although John will want to come more times to the Pigman´s house, just because of the gifs and presents. Maybe the Pigman is wasting his money because, after all, he doesn´t care anymore as he is very depressed and sad. If I was Lorraine I would try to convince John to talk to the Pigman and discuss about his problems and if he needs someone who he can count on.
Responding to Scott: It´s true. The cover of the book does make so much sense. As Scott said, John does have black hair and his eyes are blue, while Lorraine was also supposed to be fat. But in the covere it gives you information about the book, and that´s what it really matters, even though the caracters are so well drew there. The cover gives you infromation about the two adventurous teenagers (sophomores) and in gives a good point of view of the Pigman´s house and maybe how is the man who lives there.
I also agree with Natasha. Why does Mr.Pignati thinks wasting his money on the kids is going to change anything? Then again, as Natasha said, he may not care much about money, since he´s so lonely and depressed. I won´t think that John should try an talk to him about his problems, because its probably going to make him feel worst, since apparently, he hasn´t gotten over the fact that his wife is dead.
Im really starting to think about why does Mr.Pignati refuses to believe the idea of his wife being no longer alive. The most obvious idea is that he just hasn´t gotten over it and isn´t ready to actually "face it". Maybe he has some kind of mental illness, and doesn´t remember anything about this particular subject, except for the fact that his wife traveled to california, which is a very unlikely guess, but it is still possible. I also thought about the possibility of Mr.Pignati being completly aware and over the situation, he just doesn´t want to be reminded of it because something really tragic happened to her, and maybe he thinks its his fault.
On page 81 an 82 John talks about Norton. When Norton is very little he loved to play with dolls. When he gets older (10), he changes his customs, because he was being bullied, and people were making fun of him. He changes completely his personalities. Becoming a mean teenager, calling other kids sissy. Many kids in our age change their personalities, because of other people´s thoughts. They think that what other people think is very important, to be popular. What really matters is your own opinions. The author, there, makes a conection with our daily lifes.
Responding to Maria Clara: I also started to think why does Mr. Pignati refuse to talk about his wife. Like Maria Clara said, the two options are that maybe he has a mental problem and doesn´t remenber anything about the situation or maybe his wife died tragically and he thinks its his fault. The author, in this specific situation, doesn´t want us to know about it until, the climax or a problem happens. It could be that by the end of the book the author geves us clues about it but doesn´t tell us really what happened, like the ending of the Giver. It could be understood in lots of ways.
Responding to Maria Clara: I think that Mr. Pignati does remember what happened, and he can face it, but something happened in that situation which may have caused him to not want people to know. He may have accidently pushed her off a cliff or something and feels extremely guilty, and if anyone found this out then they could possibly think he was a murderer. Then because of this guilt he may have gone into hysteria where he is paranoid, but wants to be with someone due to his loneliness. I think that the way the author has led out this mystery is very intriguing to the reader and is a great way to write a book.
responding to Natasha I think that the Pigman is so happy to have new friends that he wants to do anything to make them happy. If you had a bunch of money to spend, you were lonely and met two new people who were acting very nice to you, what would you do? He just wants to keep them as friends and he is using buying things as a way to both keep them as friends and also say how much he likes them. It's like a huge gift to a friend on their birthday, you're showing that you appreciate them as a friend.
I think that Norton's stealing problem may cause a problem or may be the reason the Pigman dies at the end of the book. Norton may try to break into the Pigman's house, then the Pigman could kill him in defense, and instead of going to jail he decides to kill himself. Or it could be that Norton steals and possibly breaks something very important to the Pigman and the Pigman can't see living without it. I think Norton could cause a huge problem in the book with his stealing problem, which could lead to the Pigman's death.
I'm wondering at this moment why Norton gets so mad and upset whenever John mentions marshmallows. I think that Norton may have some psychiatrical problems that will be introduced later in the book. Norton seems to have many problems already, being bullied as a kid and now he has a fear of marshmallows. Personally I think the author is doing a great job on waiting until the last part of the book to reveal what's Norton's problem and what he is going to do. This is a great book until now and I can't wait to see how it ends.
Responding to scott: I think that this idea is a great prediction. I also think Norton could be the cause of the Pigman´s death later. One of the reasons I think that is because as Lorraine said in the beggining, she feels like she is kind of guilty that he died. Maybe, its because she thinks that she and john could have tried to talk to him and help him stop stealing, but they never even tried, or i they do, she thought they could try harder, and so she feels guilty.
Responding to natasha: I think you made a great point by saying that the author made a connection with our daily-lifes in the book. Indeed, people, especially teenagers, change their way of acting and their personality just because of what people think. Norton should´ve kept his own personality, but because of what people think, he became a thief. It would have been much better if he had just been himself, so that none of the things he is doing now would happen.
When I was almost finishing the book, in the three last chapters the author had grabbed my attention. The last sentenceof the chapter was "he's died". I wanted to continue reading and see what would have been Lorraine's and John's feelings about that situation. I wanted to compare my ideas and see if I had gotten the same idea. The author, there,did a very nice job finishing the chapter with that grabbing sentence.
A theme in the story could be: "Think before you act." When John planned to do the party at Mr. Pignati´s house, he really didn´t think and just wanted some fun. Lorraine at first disagreed, but John convinced her to have the party. If Lorraine had expressed her opinion and John thought before he acted, then Mr Pignati wouldn´t be mad at them and after die. This is one theme I concluded after reading the book.
I agree that that could be one of the themes. But I think that both Lorraine and John were to blame here. Lorraine should have said no or convinced John to not throw the party, but she didn't. I think that though some of the Pigman's death is to blame on Norton, it's mainly John and Lorraine's fault. Here's an example: You get invited to babysit someone's kids, you go and invite a friend, the friend burns the house down because he's drunk. Who's fault is it? It is debatable but in my opinion it's the person who invited the other person that wasn't supposed to be there. John and Lorraine should feel terrible.
Responding to Natasha again: Natasha said that the last three chapters captivated her. I think the author did a great job at doing this by adding suspense and stupidity into the book. You know something bad is going to happen when you read that John and Lorraine are throwing a party, but you don't know the details. This makes you want to read more and more and more and you just can't seem to stop. Also the dramatic affect that occurs when the Pigman dies is a great sample of writing. By separating the he's dead with the rest of the writing it amplifies the affect and it's just great. This author is a genius.
I think that it is great how the author used someone else's life to portray the character of John. In the question and answer part of the book in the back Paul Zindel said that a boy was trespassing on his property and he went outside to yell at him. They were about to get into a fight when they decided to talk things over. The boy, who's name was John, explained that he drank and smoked and explained his whole situation. Paul Zindel was then inspired by this and decided to make a character in his book named John. I think Zindel was very smart at using a character like that in his book, and I think that it piad off greatly.
I think that the way the author used a sort of subliminal message in the story to portray the Pigman as a sort of pig was genius. When you think of a pig you probably think of a muddy fat and obnoxious creature that no one would really like. This is basically the description of the Pigman, yes John and Lorraine sort of loved him as a friends or like a father. This could be a message like, no matter how ugly or mean something i, there is always something lovable about them and you just need the right people to bring it out. The author put in some very good messages in the book, and it could teach someone a lot of life lessons.
Responding to Scott´s comment: I also think the author did a great job on working and creating the character John, by getting facts from day life and outtting his ideas all together creating this fantastic character. Even though he smokes and drinks, hee has a feeling of goodness inside of him. Lorraine helped him discover that little space of goodness, even though he dranked and smoked. This author is very good in passing a real life boy, to a character one.
Adding to Scott´s comments: I also, when finishing the book, started thinking about synbols. I though of the pig, which the Pigman collected and basically his nickname came from. When you think of a pig like Scott said, you always think of something ugly, messy, stinky, fat, etc. Scott said that this could be a message. I agree, but I think that it could also mean that people may change from a "pig" to a nice and caring men. When Mr. Pignati didn´t know about John and Lorraine, he was very sad, lonely and needed someone to have some fun. When he had John and Lorraine as a friend, he had fun, wanted them to come more times,he cared about them as well as John and Lorraine. During Mr Pignati´s fun time he forgot totally about his past life and had some fun. He changed.
In my opinion, the person that is most guilty for the Pigman´s death, is John. John was the one who wanted to have the party the night before The Pigman arrived. If they hadn´t had the party, then when Mr.Pignati arrived he wouldn´t have to deal with all the things that were going on. Conchettas' dresses also wouldn´t be ripped. I think the reason for The Pigman to be most disappointed and sad, is because John and Lorraine did something wrong, and because of the personal belongins that John and Lorraine took from him, and from his dead wife.
One symbol in the book is definetly the pigs that Mr. and Mrs.Pignati collected since they met. The pigs hold on to great memories that the Pigman and his wife shared for years before she died. I also think that Mr.Piganti was very hurt when he found the room with the pigs, since Norton had been there, because then, all the memories from years, had been destroyed in one night.
Responding to Scott: I also agree that Paul Zindel put in many messaged in the book, that could certainly be used as many life lessons. We discussed in class with Mrs.Kuhn why do we think that the author chose specificaly pigs, for the book. We came up with the idea that he chose pigs as a symbol. As Scott mentioned, the first image anyone would have when they think of a pig, is the disgusting animal that smells horrible and rolls on mud. If you really think about it, that situation of the dirtiness could somehow relate to Mr.Pignati. His house was really messy, since his wife was no longer present to clean it up for him. But after, we can see that John and Lorraine could really bring out the best in The Pigman, because when they came, Mr.Pignati was no longer lonely, and so he started acting normal again; which turned out to be good for everyone.
Responding to Natasha: I also agree that "think before you act" could be a great theme in the book. If John only thought more about his actions, like the party, he could have stopped the worst; the death of The Pigman. At first, Lorraine did think about the fact that it wasn´t a good idea to have the party, but after John persuaded her, she got into the party. This is a theme that really related to the story.
When I first started to read the first chapter, I didn't quite understand who was talking, and what was the boy's characteristics. When I read the next chapter, I understood it. The first chapter was tolf by John, and the next chapter, was told by John's friend Lorraine. They took turns writting.
ReplyDeleteUntil page 30, I can see that John and Lorraine are adventurous sophomores, who became best friends accidentaly. The second chapter talks about how Lorraine and John got to become friends. As I said, they became friends accidentaly, in the bus, they took to go to school.
When you start to read forward, you get more interested in the book, and wants to continue. The author caught our attention, thats a very good technique.
Regarding Natasha's post:
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right. The author, Paul Zindel, chooses to switch the narrator each chapter. Why do you think Zindel does this?
Does Zindel's writing style change when he writes as John versus when he writes as Lorraine? How?
Responding to Mrs. Kuhn:
ReplyDeleteI think the author changes the narrator each chapter because, he wants to explore ideas about both main characters. For me he does that so he can have different opinions about the same subject and compare their ideas. Then he can give more juicy details, according to each characters characteristics. I love the way the author express his ideas in the novel.
I also think that Zindel´writting style changes through out each chapter. If John is a trouble make, and loves adventures, than he is going to write the chapter in the characters own words, according to his characteristic.
On page 40 John says "If we don´t cash it, he´ll know something was funny and really call the police," he told me with typical John Conlan logic . When John says that, I though and reflected. I could see that he really wanted to cash the money, because it was typically what a sophomore would do. He just invented that so he could prove to Lorainne that it was better to cash the money, the fastest they could. At that point Lorainne didn´t talk to John for five minutes. John buys a drinks and cigarretes, with the cash money. He didn´t feel even guilty! Using a mans money that he gave for lieying. I think that is the way boys act.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Mrs. Kuhn:
ReplyDeleteWhen the author changes the style of how he writes ,he is trying to show how John would write the chapter and how Lorraine would write it. By that, we readers, can visualize the mind of the characters. Each chapter surves as a scene. The author choses which caracter would probably start the book, and then he would continue with the pattern. By each character writting chapter, the author does not need to describe how the the sophmore´s characteristic are, but just describe him physically. Readign this book gets more intetresting every time. The way the author wrote the book, grabs the readers atttention, to continue reading until you finish it.
As Natasha said, when I first started reading the book, I got a little bit confused because I didn´t know who was talking when. After the first 3 chapters, I realized that the protagonists, John and Lorraine, were taking turns writing the chapters. The book until now has just some air of suspense, which is what role is Mr.Pignati going to plain in the story and how is he going to die. Im really enjoying the book until now because, even though it doesn´t have MUCH suspense in it, it has something that makes the reader always wanting to keep on reading the book to see what´s going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Natasha:
ReplyDeleteI think the author is doing this type of writing to show different perspectives of the story, to keep things interesting and new for the reader. Things in the story seem to keep changing and it I think it was smart for the author to have done what he did.
responding to Maria Clara;
ReplyDeleteI disagree about this book not having suspense, as many things are occuring at the moment and you do want to know when and how mr. Pignati will die. Also you kind of want to know what's wrong with him as various times in the book Lorraine and John state that he looked lonely and he kind of looked like a psycho maniac. I think that this book is VERY interesting ans suspenseful.
I think this book is great, and at the point that I'm at anything can happen. The author of this book has left a large variety of possibilities that can happen. We do know that the pigman is going to die sometime in the book, we just do not know when or how, which I think puts a lot of suspense into the book which makes it very fun to read. It makes you want to skip to the end to read how he dies, but that would totally ruin the story. Over all I think this book could go any direction at the moment.
ReplyDelete*responding to mrs.kuhn*
ReplyDeleteI think the author choose to take turns with john and lorraine writing one chapter each because then both of them could say things from their own point of view and have different opinions about it, which makes the book much more interesting. Paul Zindel changes the style he writes when he is john by talking more about boy´s stuff. He also changes his style of writing when its Lorraine by talking more about her personal life, for example her mom, etc.
I agree with scott.
ReplyDeleteThe book is great until now, and we are at the point where we can´t know for sure what is going to happen. in my previous post, i stated that the book didnt have much suspense, which does not mean that it doesnthave any. It certainly does, and that one of the things that makes us want to keep on reading to find out some things, like how is the pigman going to die, or about his wife.
This may not be a great book topic statement, but I think that th book cover on this book is completely inaccurate. The two people on the cover are supposed to be John and Lorraine. John is supposed to have light brown hair and blue eyes. You can not see his eyes, but his hair is black, which doesn't really make sense. Then Lorraine is supposed to be somewhat fat, and on the cover she isn't fat at all. I think the illustrator should read the book before making the picture, and the author should approve of the picture before the book is published.
ReplyDelete*responding to natasha*
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I think that the author does this to explore different ideas from both protagonists, to see how each one sees it differently. I really like it that the author did that and the book is really good until now.
Why does the Pigman waste all his money, buying things to Lorraine and John? I know that he is lonely, but wasting his money will not change a big thing. Although John will want to come more times to the Pigman´s house, just because of the gifs and presents. Maybe the Pigman is wasting his money because, after all, he doesn´t care anymore as he is very depressed and sad. If I was Lorraine I would try to convince John to talk to the Pigman and discuss about his problems and if he needs someone who he can count on.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Scott:
ReplyDeleteIt´s true. The cover of the book does make so much sense. As Scott said, John does have black hair and his eyes are blue, while Lorraine was also supposed to be fat. But in the covere it gives you information about the book, and that´s what it really matters, even though the caracters are so well drew there. The cover gives you infromation about the two adventurous teenagers (sophomores) and in gives a good point of view of the Pigman´s house and maybe how is the man who lives there.
I also agree with Natasha. Why does Mr.Pignati thinks wasting his money on the kids is going to change anything? Then again, as Natasha said, he may not care much about money, since he´s so lonely and depressed. I won´t think that John should try an talk to him about his problems, because its probably going to make him feel worst, since apparently, he hasn´t gotten over the fact that his wife is dead.
ReplyDeleteIm really starting to think about why does Mr.Pignati refuses to believe the idea of his wife being no longer alive. The most obvious idea is that he just hasn´t gotten over it and isn´t ready to actually "face it". Maybe he has some kind of mental illness, and doesn´t remember anything about this particular subject, except for the fact that his wife traveled to california, which is a very unlikely guess, but it is still possible. I also thought about the possibility of Mr.Pignati being completly aware and over the situation, he just doesn´t want to be reminded of it because something really tragic happened to her, and maybe he thinks its his fault.
ReplyDeleteOn page 81 an 82 John talks about Norton. When Norton is very little he loved to play with dolls. When he gets older (10), he changes his customs, because he was being bullied, and people were making fun of him. He changes completely his personalities. Becoming a mean teenager, calling other kids sissy. Many kids in our age change their personalities, because of other people´s thoughts. They think that what other people think is very important, to be popular. What really matters is your own opinions. The author, there, makes a conection with our daily lifes.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Maria Clara:
ReplyDeleteI also started to think why does Mr. Pignati refuse to talk about his wife. Like Maria Clara said, the two options are that maybe he has a mental problem and doesn´t remenber anything about the situation or maybe his wife died tragically and he thinks its his fault. The author, in this specific situation, doesn´t want us to know about it until, the climax or a problem happens. It could be that by the end of the book the author geves us clues about it but doesn´t tell us really what happened, like the ending of the Giver. It could be understood in lots of ways.
Responding to Maria Clara:
ReplyDeleteI think that Mr. Pignati does remember what happened, and he can face it, but something happened in that situation which may have caused him to not want people to know. He may have accidently pushed her off a cliff or something and feels extremely guilty, and if anyone found this out then they could possibly think he was a murderer. Then because of this guilt he may have gone into hysteria where he is paranoid, but wants to be with someone due to his loneliness. I think that the way the author has led out this mystery is very intriguing to the reader and is a great way to write a book.
responding to Natasha
ReplyDeleteI think that the Pigman is so happy to have new friends that he wants to do anything to make them happy. If you had a bunch of money to spend, you were lonely and met two new people who were acting very nice to you, what would you do? He just wants to keep them as friends and he is using buying things as a way to both keep them as friends and also say how much he likes them. It's like a huge gift to a friend on their birthday, you're showing that you appreciate them as a friend.
I think that Norton's stealing problem may cause a problem or may be the reason the Pigman dies at the end of the book. Norton may try to break into the Pigman's house, then the Pigman could kill him in defense, and instead of going to jail he decides to kill himself. Or it could be that Norton steals and possibly breaks something very important to the Pigman and the Pigman can't see living without it. I think Norton could cause a huge problem in the book with his stealing problem, which could lead to the Pigman's death.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering at this moment why Norton gets so mad and upset whenever John mentions marshmallows. I think that Norton may have some psychiatrical problems that will be introduced later in the book. Norton seems to have many problems already, being bullied as a kid and now he has a fear of marshmallows. Personally I think the author is doing a great job on waiting until the last part of the book to reveal what's Norton's problem and what he is going to do. This is a great book until now and I can't wait to see how it ends.
ReplyDeleteResponding to scott:
ReplyDeleteI think that this idea is a great prediction. I also think Norton could be the cause of the Pigman´s death later. One of the reasons I think that is because as Lorraine said in the beggining, she feels like she is kind of guilty that he died. Maybe, its because she thinks that she and john could have tried to talk to him and help him stop stealing, but they never even tried, or i they do, she thought they could try harder, and so she feels guilty.
Responding to natasha:
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great point by saying that the author made a connection with our daily-lifes in the book. Indeed, people, especially teenagers, change their way of acting and their personality just because of what people think. Norton should´ve kept his own personality, but because of what people think, he became a thief. It would have been much better if he had just been himself, so that none of the things he is doing now would happen.
When I was almost finishing the book, in the three last chapters the author had grabbed my attention. The last sentenceof the chapter was "he's died". I wanted to continue reading and see what would have been Lorraine's and John's feelings about that situation. I wanted to compare my ideas and see if I had gotten the same idea. The author, there,did a very nice job finishing the chapter with that grabbing sentence.
ReplyDeleteA theme in the story could be: "Think before you act."
ReplyDeleteWhen John planned to do the party at Mr. Pignati´s house, he really didn´t think and just wanted some fun. Lorraine at first disagreed, but John convinced her to have the party. If Lorraine had expressed her opinion and John thought before he acted, then Mr Pignati wouldn´t be mad at them and after die.
This is one theme I concluded after reading the book.
Responding to Natasha:
ReplyDeleteI agree that that could be one of the themes. But I think that both Lorraine and John were to blame here. Lorraine should have said no or convinced John to not throw the party, but she didn't. I think that though some of the Pigman's death is to blame on Norton, it's mainly John and Lorraine's fault. Here's an example: You get invited to babysit someone's kids, you go and invite a friend, the friend burns the house down because he's drunk. Who's fault is it? It is debatable but in my opinion it's the person who invited the other person that wasn't supposed to be there. John and Lorraine should feel terrible.
Responding to Natasha again:
ReplyDeleteNatasha said that the last three chapters captivated her. I think the author did a great job at doing this by adding suspense and stupidity into the book. You know something bad is going to happen when you read that John and Lorraine are throwing a party, but you don't know the details. This makes you want to read more and more and more and you just can't seem to stop. Also the dramatic affect that occurs when the Pigman dies is a great sample of writing. By separating the he's dead with the rest of the writing it amplifies the affect and it's just great. This author is a genius.
I think that it is great how the author used someone else's life to portray the character of John. In the question and answer part of the book in the back Paul Zindel said that a boy was trespassing on his property and he went outside to yell at him. They were about to get into a fight when they decided to talk things over. The boy, who's name was John, explained that he drank and smoked and explained his whole situation. Paul Zindel was then inspired by this and decided to make a character in his book named John. I think Zindel was very smart at using a character like that in his book, and I think that it piad off greatly.
ReplyDeleteI think that the way the author used a sort of subliminal message in the story to portray the Pigman as a sort of pig was genius. When you think of a pig you probably think of a muddy fat and obnoxious creature that no one would really like. This is basically the description of the Pigman, yes John and Lorraine sort of loved him as a friends or like a father. This could be a message like, no matter how ugly or mean something i, there is always something lovable about them and you just need the right people to bring it out. The author put in some very good messages in the book, and it could teach someone a lot of life lessons.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Scott´s comment:
ReplyDeleteI also think the author did a great job on working and creating the character John, by getting facts from day life and outtting his ideas all together creating this fantastic character. Even though he smokes and drinks, hee has a feeling of goodness inside of him. Lorraine helped him discover that little space of goodness, even though he dranked and smoked. This author is very good in passing a real life boy, to a character one.
Adding to Scott´s comments:
ReplyDeleteI also, when finishing the book, started thinking about synbols. I though of the pig, which the Pigman collected and basically his nickname came from. When you think of a pig like Scott said, you always think of something ugly, messy, stinky, fat, etc. Scott said that this could be a message. I agree, but I think that it could also mean that people may change from a "pig" to a nice and caring men. When Mr. Pignati didn´t know about John and Lorraine, he was very sad, lonely and needed someone to have some fun. When he had John and Lorraine as a friend, he had fun, wanted them to come more times,he cared about them as well as John and Lorraine. During Mr Pignati´s fun time he forgot totally about his past life and had some fun. He changed.
In my opinion, the person that is most guilty for the Pigman´s death, is John. John was the one who wanted to have the party the night before The Pigman arrived. If they hadn´t had the party, then when Mr.Pignati arrived he wouldn´t have to deal with all the things that were going on. Conchettas' dresses also wouldn´t be ripped. I think the reason for The Pigman to be most disappointed and sad, is because John and Lorraine did something wrong, and because of the personal belongins that John and Lorraine took from him, and from his dead wife.
ReplyDeleteOne symbol in the book is definetly the pigs that Mr. and Mrs.Pignati collected since they met. The pigs hold on to great memories that the Pigman and his wife shared for years before she died. I also think that Mr.Piganti was very hurt when he found the room with the pigs, since Norton had been there, because then, all the memories from years, had been destroyed in one night.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Scott:
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Paul Zindel put in many messaged in the book, that could certainly be used as many life lessons. We discussed in class with Mrs.Kuhn why do we think that the author chose specificaly pigs, for the book. We came up with the idea that he chose pigs as a symbol. As Scott mentioned, the first image anyone would have when they think of a pig, is the disgusting animal that smells horrible and rolls on mud. If you really think about it, that situation of the dirtiness could somehow relate to Mr.Pignati. His house was really messy, since his wife was no longer present to clean it up for him. But after, we can see that John and Lorraine could really bring out the best in The Pigman, because when they came, Mr.Pignati was no longer lonely, and so he started acting normal again; which turned out to be good for everyone.
Responding to Natasha:
ReplyDeleteI also agree that "think before you act" could be a great theme in the book. If John only thought more about his actions, like the party, he could have stopped the worst; the death of The Pigman. At first, Lorraine did think about the fact that it wasn´t a good idea to have the party, but after John persuaded her, she got into the party. This is a theme that really related to the story.