In class the other day we were debating whether our two narrators in The Pigman show character development throughout the book. In my opinion, they both do, but I find Lorraine’s character development to be particularly interesting because it does not resemble the classic character arch. Instead I find it to be more of a character circle. She begins and ends the book at the same level of maturity, but in the middle of the story, she reverts back to a more childlike innocence. Essentially, she moves from point A to point B and then back to point A, which contrasts John’s more linear development as he moves from point A to point B.

From the beginning of the story, we see that Lorraine is mature for her age.  She’s extremely observant of others’ emotions, doesn’t get a thrill out of John’s bathroom bombing pranks, discourages John from pursuing Mr. Pignati, and takes care of the house for her neurotic mother. Over the course of the book, as Lorraine engages with Mr. Pignati, she starts to become more childlike and takes advantage of her youth. She decides to dress up in fancy dresses and play house with John, eat excessive amounts of candy while watching TV, have an adult buy her things at a store just because it’s something she wants, and roller skate indoors. Lorraine finds this change refreshing, saying she enjoys doing “something that let [her] be a child in a way [she] never could be with [her] mother, something just silly and absurd and . . . beautiful” (87).

The final childish act Lorraine agrees to is the party in Mr. Pignati’s home. However, this youthful adventure does not make her feel silly and beautiful like she did before because the party gets out of hand and she and John end up damaging Mr. Pignati’s most prized possessions and betraying his trust. Lorraine now associates her indulgence in frivolous, childish acts with the death of Mr. Pignati and blames herself for “murdering” him. With Mr. Pignati’s death, Lorraine is brought back down to reality where her mother’s constant words of precaution about how dangerous the world can be finally ring true. Essentially, she is back where she started at the beginning of the story: cautious, observant, and mature.