Importance of Dur Pig (DP)

DP is Jack's stability. In the early sections of the novel, Jack feels that DP is the only Thing that understands him in all of the changes that are happening in his life. No matter what Jack faces, DP is there to keep him going and convince him that everything is going to be alright. When Jack loses DP, that false sense of stability and security is shattered, forcing Jack to confront all of the changes he tried to ignore. Eventually, Jack's decision to let DP live on the Island of the Beloved so he can save the Christmas Pig instead shows how Jack has figured out a way to find security for himself and no longer relies wholeheartedly on DP to do that for him.