How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter)
Quote #1
John: Now Lorraine can blame all the other things on me, but she was the one who picked out the Pigman's phone number. If you ask me, I think he would have died anyway. Maybe we speeded things up a little, but you really can't say we murdered him.
Not murdered him. (3)
John is trying to understand his and Lorraine's role in Mr. Pignati's death. He seems undecided about their degree of responsibility.
Quote #2
[John:] In fact, if Lorraine felt like saying one of us murdered Mr. Pignati, she should have blamed Norton. He's the one who finally caused all the trouble. (5)
If Norton's actions were the final, most immediate cause of Mr. Pignati's final illness and death, does this mean that only Norton is responsible? Is John trying to shift blame away from himself?
Quote #3
[Mr. Pignati:] "Now I want you to write down on the paper I gave you the names of the characters in the order in which you think they were most responsible for the WIFE's death. Just list WIFE, HUSBAND, LOVER, ASSASSIN, AND BOATMAN in the order you think they are the most guilty. […] Because you picked the BOATMAN as being most guilty, that means you're both most interested in MAGIC," he said. (10)
This game functions as a symbol for the questions about responsibility the novel raises. (See "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory.") John's and Lorraine's choice of "magic" as the most important quality forces us to think about how magic functions in the story. Is there a magical quality to their friendship with Mr. Pignati?
Quote #4
[John:] I walked to the edge of the living room and just waited for the lecture I knew was coming.
[Lorraine:] "You shouldn't have gone upstairs with the roller skates on," she finally said as though in a trance.
"I didn't think he would follow me up."
"You just never know when to stop."
"Oh, shut up!" I snapped at her. "You're beginning to sound like my Old Lady."
She turned her head away, and I was sorry I had yelled at her. (11)
After Mr. Pignati's first heart attack, Lorraine and John feel horribly guilty. They blame each other, and, deep down, John blames himself. They begin to bicker like an old married couple.
Quote #5
[John:] Everything that happened from then on [after they visit Mr. Pignati in the hospital] Lorraine blames me for, and maybe she's right. (11)
John still stops short of accepting full responsibility for the disaster of the party and its effect on Mr. Pignati. "Maybe she's right." Well, John, is she or isn't she?
Quote #6
[John:] I mean, this was turning out to be the party of the year. The house was a great pleasure palace, it really was. And there wasn't that much damage being done. Somebody dropped a drink down the stairs, and a cigarette burned a small hole in a throw rug. Only one lamp went over, and that was during this frenzied dance when everybody was on the floor. (13)
For the reader, this passage is an ominous sign of the destruction to come as the party grows wilder. But John is trying to convince himself that the damage is minimal. This is one example of John's tendency to delude himself.
Quote #7
[John:] Finally I managed to lift my head and saw Mr. Pignati at the door. He was just standing there looking down at me, and there was no smile on his face. No smile at all.
That's when I passed out. (13)
This is a moment of horror for John, when Mr. Pignati returns from the hospital unexpectedly and sees the damage to his house and, most of all, his pig collection. This is one of the very few times that Mr. Pignati doesn't greet John with a big smile.
Quote #8
[Lorraine:] I felt tears rolling down my cheeks onto the pillow as I remembered the condition of Mr. Pignati's house. Would he think we had forsaken him and deliberately ripped his wife's clothes—viciously broken the pigs? I wanted to phone him and say, Mr. Pignati, we didn't mean things to work out like that. We were just playing. (14)
This quote forces us to think about the issue of intention in responsibility. If Lorraine and John didn't intend the damage, does this lessen their responsibility?
Quote #9
[John:] "Was Mr. Pignati all right?" he asked sheepishly.
[Lorraine:] "What do you care?" I said with an edge to my voice so he'd know I blamed everything on him. Then I was sorry I'd said it. (14)
Lorraine blames John, but also feels guilty for making him feel bad. She is angry with him, but still sensitive to his feelings.
Quote #10
[John:] There was no one else to blame anymore. No Bores or Old Ladies or Nortons, or Assassins waiting at the bridge. And there was no place to hide—no place across any river for a boatman to take us.
Our life would be what we made of it—nothing more, nothing less. (15)
At the end of the novel, it seems that John is finally accepting responsibility for his actions.