In The Pigman the author, Paul Zindel, demonstrates that every teenager believes that they have a weird family. In John's case, he nicknames his mother "The Hyper" because of her obsessive need for cleanliness and his father "The Bore" because of his indifferent or non-caring attitude towards everything. On the other hand, Lorraine is fed up with her mother's constant remarks concerning her appearance. Due to their domestic situations, these two very interesting characters develop small little insecurities, which gradually take over their personalities. For example, John becomes a rebel to attract attention, which he does not receive at home, and Lorraine becomes extremely self-conscious and paranoid. Many times, there are numerous reasons why a child can turn out to be a rebel, overly self-conscious or even paranoid. However, the single cause for John and Lorraine's behavior in this case, is their abnormal families.

One of John's many...