The Pigman Chapters 9 & 10 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 9 & 10

Summary: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 opens about a month after the trip to Manhattan, with John explaining that as he views his classmate Norton as a bully and a small-time thief, he feels suspicious when Norton invites him to hang out at the cemetery. While there, Norton asks John if Mr. Pignati has anything at his house worth stealing. Even though John answers no, Norton keeps asking about Mr. Pignati’s house and threatens to visit unless John tells him more. Angry, John walks away. He muses that he is as messed up as Norton. He recalls how, when he was ten years old, he started draining the almost-empty beer glasses around the house and got positive attention from his parents for doing so. Eventually, however, his parents got old and tired and felt only distress with whatever he was doing. John contrasts their attitude to Mr. Pignati’s, who invites him to make himself at home. John thinks he will kill Norton if he tries to hurt the older man.

Summary: Chapter 10

Lorraine and John make a habit of visiting Mr. Pignati every day after school, even bringing their own snacks and drinks sometimes. Lorraine must continue to lie to her mother about her whereabouts. Lorraine’s mother questions her about boys, always worrying that someone is trying to pick Lorraine up. Lorraine’s mother feels so suspicious because her husband cheated on her.

One night after an upset Mr. Pignati tells them Bobo wouldn’t eat anything, Lorraine pushes John to clear their consciences, and they tell Mr. Pignati the truth about themselves. John and Lorraine explain that they are high school students, not charity workers. Their honesty spurs Mr. Pignati to confess that Conchetta is dead. When Mr. Pignati begins to cry, Lorraine and John each try to make him laugh. They succeed, and Mr. Pignati wants to amuse them in return, so he proposes a psychological game. He relates a story about a husband, a wife and her lover, an assassin, and a boatman.

In the story, which is presented with a drawing and the characters’ names in all capital letters, the husband goes out of town and refuses to take his wife, so she crosses the bridge to go to her lover’s house. The next day she tries to return home before her husband does, but an assassin is waiting for her on the other side of the bridge. She asks the boatman to take her across the river, but she lacks the fare, and her lover won’t give her the money. Desperate to get home, the wife runs across the bridge, and the assassin fatally stabs her. After finishing the story, Mr. Pignati asks John and Lorraine to list the characters in order of their guilt over the wife’s death. John and Lorraine identify the boatman as guiltiest. In the story, the boatman symbolizes magic, so John and Lorraine’s choice indicates that this is the quality they are most interested in.

Once the game ends, John starts roller skating. Mr. Pignati and Lorraine soon join him, and they all play tag. John runs up the stairs, and Mr. Pignati tries to follow him. However, after taking only a few steps up, Mr. Pignati starts gasping and moaning and falls down the stairs.

Analysis: Chapters 9 & 10

John and Lorraine attempt to solidify their friendship with Mr. Pignati and place it on a more equal footing, and Mr. Pignati responds in kind. Their efforts build throughout Chapter 10, first with John and Lorraine sharing their purchased snacks with Mr. Pignati and then, more significantly, with the two sharing the truth about how their relationship began with a lie. When Mr. Pignati responds with his own secret that Conchetta is dead, this exchange of confidences shows how all three are working to facilitate greater openness and trust. They do so out of genuine affection for one another. Lorraine and John take the first step toward honesty, and Mr. Pignati’s revelation shows that he understands their motivation with their gesture and wants to elevate their relationship. Lorraine explains to Mr. Pignati that “We just had to be honest with you because we like you more than anyone we know.” For one of the first times, Lorraine and John are being honest with themselves and with someone else about their feelings. They no longer choose to hide behind lies or excuses.

Also significant is how their efforts to lighten the mood and make one another laugh all build on one another. Lorraine writes, “That’s how the three of us were. If one of us did something that was funny, the other two had to come up with something too. . . . We wanted to show equally how much we were thankful for each other’s company.” Their actions, such as Lorraine tricking John into eating chocolate-covered ants, John roller skating in the house, and Mr. Pignati sharing the psychological game, show that the three of them are in tune with one another and seek to make the others happy and deepen their connection.

These two chapters also foreshadow the tragedy to come. The reintroduction of Norton further reinforces that Norton is intrinsically involved in the death of Mr. Pignati. John has worried about what Norton might do since the beginning of the novel. Norton appears unstable and seems convinced that Mr. Pignati has something of value to offer. He likely thinks so because John hangs out at Mr. Pignati’s house all the time and Norton thinks there must be some economic motivation behind John’s friendship with an odd, older man. Mr. Pignati’s psychological game is another crucial part of the foreshadowing. First, the game’s premise is built around a senseless death, but more importantly, the game forces readers to think alongside the characters about their ideas surrounding consequences, guilt, and responsibility. Mr. Pignati’s story itself is flimsy, failing to provide any crucial details, but it works to engage the reader. With the capitalized character names and the drawing, the presentation in the novel reaches from the pages directly to the reader. Many readers will find themselves making their own determination of guilt. Other readers may find themselves posing more questions, such as “Who hired the assassin in the first place?” In that way, Mr. Pignati’s story also makes clear that there is no easy answer for big, complex questions and that no one ever has all the information to come to a solid conclusion.

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