Meet John and Lorraine. They have a story to tell and magnanimously decide to take turns writing about their journey and encounter with the Pigman. They meet him with mischief on their minds posing as a charity collecting money. He presents to them a seemingly foreign specimen to their teenage existence: a lonely man who is basically good and kind.
Zindel is one of the founders of the modern young adult novel and a particular interest of mine for an upcoming research paper. This book was published in 1968 but the voices are still fresh and indicative of present day teen-speak. So at the end John and Lorraine push it a bit too far regarding Pigman's generosity. Yes his house gets torn up a bit and certain items of his late wife are shamefully damaged. But before that disaster the two adolescents make a good friend in the Pigman and are offered kindness from an adult world that offers little. My question is: does the good outweigh the bad or would the Pigman have been better off never meeting John and Lorraine? Hmmm...
