Wednesday 6 August 2008

In Paul Zindel's The Pigman, what does each of the three omens foreshadow in Chapter Six?

The first omen
that Lorraine says is a bad one is the woman selling peanuts. She doesn't hear Lorraine's order
right, so she barks back at her like she doesn't like kids. At least that is how Lorraine takes
her attitude. Then the peacock attacks her on the trail and she takes it as a bad omen because
she's paranoid everyone or everything is out to get her. The third omen is when Lorraine sees a
weird little boy staring at her in the Mammal Building. Lorraine explains her concerns as
follows:

"He made me feel as though I was a bat in a
cage and he was on the outside looking in at me. It made me feel very nervous"
(59).

Lorraine is a very paranoid person as it is, but
the omens do have symbolic value. The first two omens might represent Lorraine's mother because
like the woman selling peanuts, it seems like her mother doesn't like her own daughter, let
alone other kids her age. Then, the peacock attacking Lorraine could parallel when Lorraine is
brought home by a cop in Chapter 14. Lorraine's mother responds by smacking her around when she
finds out about Mr. Pignati, the crazy party, and all of the lies she's told. Finally, the
little kid with the smirk on his face could represent Norton's creepiness and threatening
attitude towards her and Mr. Pignati. Eventually, it is mostly Norton's shenanigans that ruin
everything for Lorraine and John and their relationship with Mr. Pignati.

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