The Pigman: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Lorraine narrates this chapter. After leaving the Pigman’s house, John makes Lorraine accompany him to Tony’s Market—Tony will sell beer to anyone, and the police never bother him about it. Lorraine urges John to rip up the check, but John reasons that if they don’t cash it, Mr. Pignati will know something is fishy and call the police. At Tony’s, Lorraine buys a chocolate drink—with her own money—while John cashes the check and uses it to buy beer and a pack of cigarettes. Lorraine waits for him to feel guilty, but he doesn’t.

John asks Lorraine if she wants to go to the zoo. Lorraine, angry, says no. John calls her a killjoy and reasons that they owe it to Mr. Pignati, since they stole from him. When Lorraine starts to argue, John smiles and calls Lorraine “a little schizo today.”

When Lorraine returns home at 6:30 that evening, she’s shocked to find that Lorraine’s mother, a private nurse, is already home. Lorraine’s dad is never there, ever since they got a legal separation 15 years ago, and then Lorraine’s dad died six years ago. Lorraine’s mother asks Lorraine where she’s been. Lorraine lies that she went to a drama-club meeting and then to Stryker’s Luncheonette. Lorraine’s mom is mad—she told Lorraine not to go there, since there are sex-hungry boys there. Lorraine thinks her mom is pretty hung up about men. Lorraine’s mom grumbles about an old man she was caring for who just died of cancer. She brushes her hair, which makes Lorraine sad; Lorraine’s mom is a pretty woman, but she’s troubled and mean, and Lorraine wonders how she got to be this way.

Lorraine’s mom tells Lorraine to heat up some water for coffee, then she follows Lorraine into the kitchen. She hands Lorraine two dollars for her school dues and grumbles about how hard and expensive it is to raise a child on her own; she can’t even afford new nylons, she says, gesturing toward the ratty old pair she’s wearing under her bathrobe. Lorraine’s mother asks Lorraine to stay home from school tomorrow to help her clean the house, but Lorraine says she can’t—she has a Latin test tomorrow. Irritated, Lorraine’s mom protests that Lorraine will never need to know how to speak Latin in the real world. Lorraine keeps quiet, not wanting to incite her mother. She reminds her that she did the laundry yesterday, but it’s not good enough for her mother. Lorraine wonders what her mother would think if she knew Lorraine wants to be a writer when she grows up.

Lorraine’s mother goes to bed, and Lorraine calls John. She hears yelling in the background; John yells at his dad about accusing him of gluing the telephone lock and tells Lorraine that his parents don’t trust him. Lorraine tells John that they can go to the zoo tomorrow after all—she changed her mind and thinks she needs a day off.

John and Lorraine cut school the next day, which is easy, since Deanna Deas, who works in the Dean’s office, has a crush on John and won’t say anything. John called the Pigman and told him to meet them at the zoo at ten o’clock that morning. They arrive early and sit on a bench. Lorraine polishes her Ben Franklin sunglasses, which make people look at her. She never used to wear eye-catching clothes, but she’s worn these ever since meeting John, who’s always wearing zany, attention-grabbing accessories. Lorraine doesn’t really want to be at the zoo—she’s an animal person and hates seeing them trapped in their cages.

A short while later, Mr. Pignati arrives and greets them, a wide, excited smile on his face. He asks if they want any snacks. Thinking back, Lorraine realizes there were bad omens about how all this would end even during the zoo visit, but she had no way of knowing it then. The first bad omen is when the woman selling peanuts is antagonistic toward Lorraine—Lorraine thinks the woman probably hates kids. The second bad omen is when a peacock, determined to steal Lorraine’s peanuts, attacks her. And the third omen happens when they go to the nocturnal room of the Mammal House and see a weird little kid there. Instead of staring at the vampire bats, he stares at Lorraine, a smirk on his face, as though she’s the animal in the cage.

But John and Mr. Pignati remain unaware of these omens and have a great time. In the snake house, Lorraine lets them go on ahead as she investigates a “snake quiz” on the wall. After they’re finished looking at the reptiles, Mr. Pignati announces that he’d like John and Lorraine to meet Bobo, his “best friend.” Mr. Pignati leads them to the monkey house and stops outside a large cage. “Bobo?” calls Mr. Pignati. Finally, an ugly, mean-looking baboon emerges and walks toward Mr. Pignati. Mr. Pignati tosses peanuts to Bobo, who screeches and bares his monstrous teeth. Sometimes he catches the peanuts. Sensing that Mr. Pignati is going to spend a while with Bobo, Lorraine and John move on ahead, but Mr. Pignati hardly notices.  

John and Lorraine leave the monkey house and ride a train-like contraption around the zoo to pass the time. But when they return to the monkey house, Mr. Pignati is still tossing peanuts to Bobo. John decides to chat with a nearby gorilla. Lorraine joins in, calling out, “Uggauggaboo.” Before long, Mr. Pignati joins in, as do Bobo and some of the neighboring chimpanzees. Lorraine thinks they’re going to make the roof of the monkey house collapse. When it’s time to leave, Mr. Pignati tells Bobo he’ll miss him. Bobo’s face falls when he realizes he won’t get any more peanuts that day.