Ceramic Pig Collection Symbol
Mr Pignati's collection of ceramic pigs was put together by his wife and himself during their very happy and loving marriage. Now that his wife has died, the pigs are a symbol of shared times, and each one symbolizes a trip or an experience that they shared, when they purchased it.
The First Ceramic Pig Symbol
Mr Pignati purchased the first ceramic pig in their collection for his wife as a symbol of himself, specifically of his last name, so that it would act as a symbol of him whenever she looked at it.
Alcohol Motif
There is alcohol everywhere in the novel. John's father is a recovering alcoholic; we never see him drunk but Lorraine's narration describes his drunken rages and the negative way that alcohol affected him. He was addicted to it.
John is not an alcoholic but does use alcohol to block out his emotions and feelings. He purchases beer with the money that he and Lorraine con out of Mr Pignati.
During their friendship with Mr Pignati, they enjoy wine tasting and gourmet food with him at his house, this being shown as a more gentle alcoholic experience.
Finally, the party that John throws in Mr Pignati's house is alcohol-fueled and because he is too drunk to prevent Norton from going into the study John is unable to prevent him from smashing all of the pigs. Alcohol is a motif throughout and also a very negative influence on the life of the characters.
Death Motif
Death is one of the motifs throughout the book. Mr Pignati is missing and in a way still mourning his wife who died. He is lonely because he misses her so much and this is why he reached out to John and Lorraine for friendship. He is also affected deeply by the death of Bobo the baboon with whom he has a special bond, and whom he considers to be his best friend.
Mr Pignati's Game Allegory
The game that Mr Pignati invents to play with John and Lorraine has a fairly basic plot; a wife has been cheating on her husband and she is murdered. Players have to decide who is responsible for her death?
This philosophical conundrum-come-wordplay-game is basically an allegory of the central question that the book asks the reader, namely, who is responsible for Mr Pignati's death? The wife who cheated on her husband in the game is an allegorical representation of Lorraine and John's betrayal of Mr Pignati, which suggests they are responsible. However, perhaps the man with whom the wife cheated is responsible, or the husband himself for driving her away. The philosophical questions raised are an allegory of the questions raised by the novel concerning responsibility for Mr Pignati's demise at the end of the book.
