In the story “The Pigman and Me” written by Paul Zindel, Zindel talks about a boy named Paul. In the first few days of school, in P.E class, he accidentally hit someone, and this is John, a nice normal boy. When Paul does this John says that he will get revenge on Monday. Under a tree at his house, Nono Frankie comes. Frankie sees the sad look on Paul’s face, Paul says that he does not know how to fight, and that he has to fight someone on Monday. Nono Frankie then teaches Paul the Sicilian fighting style, and recommends that he should use it then. On Monday everyone is outside waiting for the fight, and Paul and John come. They start the fight and Paul does what Nono Frankie tells him, he yells then goes for the shins, but he misses. John then throws a punch, and Paul trips himself, and everyone thinks John punched him hard. Paul goes along. Then John is done, but people want more blood, so Moose comes up ready for a punch, but Paul’s sister intervenes. She grabs Moose and throws Moose ten feet away. She says that if anyone hurts her brother again then, she will bust their guts out.
In the story John’s reaction to hitting Paul was that he was satisfied in the end, but not the others, they wanted more blood like Moose. But John was satisfied when he thought he had hit Paul, because when he announced that he was gonna get revenge on Monday, he said that he only wanted one punch. He also could have reflected over the weekend and how he may regret after hitting the new kid. He also could have thought that he didn't want to be the first one to bully the new kid, and hurt him too much. He also might have felt a little sympathy for him, and saw the fear in Paul’s eyes. The pressure of the crowd also had him in a pickle, because he wanted to listen to them, but he was also not trying to hurt Paul. The pressure of the crowd made him feel that he would just get one punch. John’s reaction had helped us realize why he gave up, and how he felt sorrow and pressure, in the story.
When John gives up, he sees Paul’s reaction to hitting him, how he is unsettled and not ready. Paul’s reaction affected John a lot, like he could see he was scared of him, and how he thought that he was the bully, so he pulled away. He could also see that even though he had not hit him, he knew that Paul was just trying to defend himself from getting hurt in the first month of school. He also noticed from Paul that he doesn’t want to get hurt in the first month, because that would embarrass him a little bit. John also sees that if he hurts Paul, then he would be a bully, for hitting him over and over, and that he wouldn’t be the nice kind person, as they describe him as, but instead a ruthless person. John also notices that if he hits him and that he is a new kid, he would be unsettled the rest of the school year, and might just quit. Paul’s reaction to getting punched, changes John’s thinking, and his doubt if he should have done this or not.
The watchers' reaction to John giving up was disappointment, they wanted more fighting and blood. When the people saw that they stopped fighting, they booed and did not cheer for him any more. This also brought Moose up, and he said that he will fight him, for punching John. Paul’s sister then grabs Moose and throws him to the side. She warns anybody who messes with her brother would get their guts ripped out. This made everyone run away, and that was when they noticed that the Zinder kids would always stick together. John sees that the audience is booing the new kid, which could make him very uncomfortable, and he sees that this was his fault. The crowd also lets John realize that he wasn’t ever that violent, he was just a kind normal boy, but because he is going to punch Paul, he would be a mean normal boy. The watcher's reaction was very important in the story, for it helps John notice many things in his life.
The story “The Pigman and Me” talks about a boy named Paul, and one day he accidentally hits a nice normal boy named John Quinn. John says that he will get revenge on him, and Paul is scared because he does not know how to fight him. Nono Frankie tries to teach Paul how to fight, but in the actual battle Paul messes up. John also stops quickly after one punch. When John stopped, he was satisfied with what he had done, and Paul got one punch and they were even, and did not have to fight anymore. He also notices that he would be a bully to the new kid, so he shouldn’t have done that. Paul’s reaction had also done something to John, it had changed him. He was infuriated, then he saw that Paul was scared, and that he had to change and help the new kid. Even the people who were watching made a difference by asking for more blood, but he didn’t because he doesn’t want to hurt him anymore. The story “The Pigman and Me” is a great story to talk about when to stop.
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