Multi-Class Neighborhood
Lorraine narrates the ambiguity of their neighborhood when it comes to social positioning since it lacks uniformity. She illustrates this dynamic where picture-perfect homes and average-looking houses stand in stark contrast to each other:
“Many of the houses were interesting as far as middle-class neighborhoods go. In fact, I suppose you’d say it was a multi-class neighborhood because both the houses and the kids ranged from wrecks to rich. There’d be a lovely brick home with a lot of land, and right next to it there’d be a plain wooden house with a postage-stamp-sized lawn that needed cutting. The only thing that was completely high class was the trees. Large old trees lined most of the streets and had grown so tall and wide they almost touched. I loved looking at the trees more than anything at first, but after awhile even those started to depress me.”
State of Mind
The two main characters choose to write the story after the events that ensued from the time they met Mr. Pignati. As young people, the events were traumatizing and they needed an outlet as soon as possible. Their narrations have different tones and styles which Lorraine notices soon after beginning the writing process:
“I should never have let John write the first chapter because he always has to twist things subliminally. I am not panting, and I’m not about to have a thrombosis. 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.”
Angry Retaliation
During the party, John and Lorraine lose control of the crowd and some of their antagonists choose to destroy the house. The climax of the party occurs when Norton goes ahead and destroys the collection of ceramic pigs. It becomes the last straw for John as he fights him with so much rage that he chooses to run away:
“I pushed the curtains open, and there was Norton holding a large white pig, which he brought down suddenly on a table edge, knocking its head off. He looked inside and then threw it against the wall where it blasted to pieces. Several other broken pigs were laying all over the floor, and the only thing I could think of at that moment was the proud and happy look on Mr. Pignati’s face when he had shown us the pigs that first day. I felt like killing Norton as I plowed into him, punching his face like it was a sack of flour. After I got a couple of good blows in, he dug his elbow into my ribs and kicked the skates out from under me. That gave him a chance to pick up the oscilloscope and head for the door like a scared rat.”
The Second Cardiac Arrest
Mr. Pignati has been through a lot since he met the two teen troublemakers who have brought both joy and despair to his life. The incident that kills the old man is filled with shock and sadness which Lorraine manages to capture vividly:
“As I started moving away and heading for the door John went to Mr. Pignati and just took his arm lightly, trying to turn him away from the empty cage. I saw the Pigman open his mouth, and then his hands started to shake. He went to grab hold of the railing, but let out a tiny cry almost like a puppy that had been stepped on by mistake. I can still remember the sound of it, and sometimes I wake up from a nightmare with it in my ears. It was like a high-pitched scream, but it came from deep inside of him, and before John or I knew what had happened, the Pigman dropped to the floor.”
