Zindel's Use of Literary Devices in The Pigman Essay

“Our life would be what we made of it, nothing more nothing less.” This quote was said by a character in The Pigman. The Pigman takes place in Staten Island, NY in the mid 1960s. John and Lorraine were two high school students make friends with Mr.Pignati a lonely old man who just lost his wife and was looking for people to talk with. The Puritans would destroy the novel The Pigman due to the law breaking characters, characters leading sinful lives, and poor family values.

Mr. Jones, the farmer, goes to sleep drunk one night when the most respected animal calls a meeting. Major, as the pig is called, waits until everyone is settled to begin describing the gist of the dream he had had the night before. He tells them that their lives are much harder than they need be. The only reason why they aren’t happy is that they must deal with humans. He says humans are useless and profit off everyone else’s hard work. Unless they rebel, their lives and those of their children will never get better. The group decides that all four-legged or winged animals are friends and will not be harmed when they eventually rebel. Then, Major sings a lively old song that everyone immediately loves, Beasts of England, but they all

"Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labour." (Golding 68)

Another time foreshadowing was shown was also in the beginning of the book. On pg. 7 it said, “‘But

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the journey of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle through the navigation of working on a ranch in California and fulfilling their dreams together during a time of financial depression. The novel begins with George and Lennie traveling through the California wilderness to get to a new ranch just south of Soledad where they are going to begin new work. They had to leave their previous jobs in a town called Weed because Lennie had caused trouble with a girl by holding on to her red dress because he wanted to feel it, and this incident spiraled into rape allegations against Lennie. As George and Lennie make their way to the new ranch, Lennie; who is a large, but simple minded man; found a dead mouse and wanted to keep it to pet because he likes soft things. George, who is more serious and protects Lennie, takes the mouse away from him because even though it’s dead, he should not be messing with it. Lennie often does not realize his strength because of his mental incapabilities and as a result, he causes a lot of trouble and harm. George finds taking care of Lennie to be taxing, but he knows that their friendship is an important bond that he does not want to be without. In order to comfort Lennie in the wilderness, George tells the story of their shared dream to own their own ranch where they can follow their own rules and live as they please. When they finally arrive at the ranch the next day, George and Lennie

Throughout the story John’s thoughts and words really bring him to life. While he is in a cemetery drinking and smoking, John says “I’m looking for anything to prove that when I drop dead there’s a chance I’ll be doing something a little more exciting than decaying.” This shows John’s curiosity about the future. John seems like the kind of person that is always eager to learn new things. At the very end of the story John says “They build their own cages, we could almost hear the Pigman whisper, as he took his children with him.” What John means is that many people in general build their own “cage” and they only let certain people in. In the story John, Lorraine and Mr. Pignati did just this. They each lived in their own separate worlds until they met each other. When they met they opened each other’s eyes to the outside world. In the last part of the quote John is describing how when Mr. Pignati died he took John and Lorraine’s childhood with him. When the three of them were together they acted like children. Mr. Pignati was like the father they never had and when he died a part of them died as well.

An author often writes a novel as a warning to mankind. In Animal Farm, George Orwell creates a world of animals that allegorically represent man. The intelligent pigs take advantage of the uneducated lower animals and take control of the farm. By showing the steady increase of the pigs' intellectual exploitation of the lower animals, Orwell warns the reader of the importance of an education.

Hartnett builds on the theme of trust by effectively using the primary and secondary antagonists and protagonists. She uses the animals, the three children, and Alice to emphasise her point about trust. Hartnett delves into the true meaning of trust in many ways – through her characters, especially our protagonists, Andrej and Tomas; different themes in the book, including bravery, loyalty, and love; and Hartnett emphasises the importance of trust through the different symbols and motifs she uses in The Midnight Zoo.

Of Mice and Men describes the life of a man and his best friend who has the mentality of a child. Their friendship is very strong and this is surprising, “it jus’ seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin’ together”, and this is due to the other characters in the book being implied as very lonely.

Provide a brief intro in which you identify the character whose life became brighter once the Pigman entered it:

One dark, misty night on Manor farm, the pigs were partying. They partied in the Jones house with Mr. Pilkington Napolean didn’t let any other animals into the house besides the pigs were so fat they couldn’t stand on two feet, they had to crawl. On the other hand the other animals were locked up in the barn and very mistreated; they were only fed leftover whiskey, milk, and apples.

A great American mathematician, John W. Tukey, once said “The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.” This quote relates to stories because the author can use figurative language and descriptive language to paint a picture in the reader’s head. By using these, the author can almost assure the reader that they have the same vision as the author has. In the novel The Pigman by Paul Zindel, many examples of figurative language and descriptive adjectives are present to help the reader envision the story in their minds and to develop characters.

Have you ever read a love poem that starts with the downs of a relationship? The hidden parts, those scary truths that hides behind a beautiful and wonderful relationship? Some say that it is exactly those secrets that keeps a relationship going. Join me on this journey to learn and know why the “Pig Song” is a beautiful love poem.

In the story Sleep Hollow there was a lot of foreshadowing throughout the whole story.

What is the definition of a good novel? Opinions on this question may differ, but there are many things that good novels have in common. Most importantly, the reader must enjoy the novel. When I use the word enjoy, I don’t necessarily mean that it should make the reader ‘happy’ or ‘joyful’. The novel should give the reader a valuable or worthwhile experience. Many good novels often address topics that relate to our own reality. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, one of the main focuses is on power and corruption.