Deception
The main theme of the book is deception because the key relationship in it, that of Mr Pignati and Lorraine and John, is based on the initial deception carried out by the two friends with the specific purpose of swindling him. John and Lorraine tell Mr Pignati that they are volunteers with a charity and that they are collecting money door to door. Although Lorraine almost immediately feels guilty, John does not, and spends the money they have swindled out of him before she has a chance to return it. Revealing their deception is catastrophic for Mr Pignati. He is so distressed that the two young people he trusted were being deceptive that he has a heart attack.
John is the most deceptive character in the book. He is cocky and arrogant, and believes that his good looks will carry him through ever situation unscathed. He lies constantly and is deceptive by nature.
Dysfunctional Families
Lorraine and John both come from dysfunctional families and this is one of the main things that they have in common. Through them we see a number of different ways in which a family can be dysfunctional; John and his father don't get along, partly because of John's awkward personality and partly because his parents favor Kenny, his brother, so much that short of being replicating Kenny entirely, there is nothing John could ever do to please or to meet their standards. His father is a recovering alcoholic who is a "my way or the highway" type of personality. His mother is a compulsive cleaner and germaphobe, and her only ambition for her son is that he stay out of his father's way so that her quiet life is not interrupted.
Lorraine is raised by her mother who dislikes her because she is a reminder of her husband who cheated. She is spiteful and a verbal bully, sometimes descending into physical bullying as well. She is responsible in that Lorraine is always provided for and her home environment is safe and clean and secure, but there is often not enough food in the home. There is no demonstrative love between the two.
Both of these familial relationships are dysfunctional and don't provide a loving framework for John or Lorraine which goes to explain a little why they are so enamored of the palpable friendship that is offered by Mr Pignati.
Loss
Mr Pignati suffers too much loss. Eventually his heart has broken so much that it gives out all together and he dies from his second heart attack. He loved his wife very much and was devastated when she died. He mitigates this loss slightly by spending time reliving the story of how each of the ceramic pigs in their collection came to be, which enables him to relieve the times with his wife all over again.
Mr Pignati also loses what his vision of his friendship with Lorraine and John is like. He trusts them and believes that the friendship is genuine so when he finds that these two terrific young people he has come to care very much about were basically trying to con him out of his money when they first met, he is devastated.
At the end of the novel, he learns that his best friend, Bobo, has died as well. This is too much loss for one person to endure, especially one as lonely as Mr Pignati, and it is loss that precipitates the second heart attack that he suffers.
Guilt and Remorse
One of the lesser themes in the novel is that of remorse, and guilt. Lorraine begins to experience feelings of guilt as soon as they have ripped Mr Pignati off. She continues to be remorseful and it is she who precipitates their confession to him. John is less given to feelings of guilt. He admits what he was trying to do when they called at Mr Pignati's home for the first time, but stops short of actual remorse. It is not until the end of the novel, after Mr Pignati's death, that he becomes truly remorseful, and wants to write some kind of memorial to pay tribute to the special nature of their friend and his friendship with them.
