This is another aspect of the book that hasn’t aged well. Though the book clearly means to portray John’s ungratefulness in a negative light, it doesn’t overtly challenge the assumption that Lorraine, as the female half of their partnership, is better suited to domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning. That being said, the book has already established that John acts out to cope with difficult feelings he doesn’t know how to handle. Knowing this, readers can interpret the disrespect he shows Lorraine as a misdirected stress response to his worry for Mr. Pignati.