Trust Me: An Essay on Guilt

Guilt can take on many forms. For some, it is an emotional experience due to holding a confession in. For others, it's the force that one cannot bear and will ultimately be overwhelmed by. Indeed, guilt is a powerful force indeed. Guilt can be caused by a wide assortment of scenarios. It can be a little white lie that one has regretted, or it can be huge, such as a criminal's deed. However, no matter what the size of the culprit is, guilt kicks in almost right after one thinks about the task that was executed. If one has lied about their age, they could feel guiltier than the same person when they lied about their grade on an essay. Guilt is a tricky thing, and most people could not bear to live with it. The ultimate panacea to guilt is confession. When one confesses, it might get that person into trouble, however. On the other hand, it is probably easier to face the consequences than it is to live with that burden. People just want to lift that burden, to be able to think straight again. Guilt is hard to forget, and that is one reason why it is such a tremendous force. In the book The Pigman by Paul Zindel, John and Lorraine betray Mr. Pignati, and that resulted in guilt.

Guilt is a powerful force to overcome, and a majority of people collapse because of it. However, guilt is there for a reason. Sometimes, people deserve guilt, like criminals. However, sometimes, one can be paranoid, and feel like they executed the action that eventually led on to guilt, even if they didn't. Some people think of guilt as evil and ruthless, but some people think that guilt is what people deserve. One might argue that guilt is a force that should not be so punishing, but other people think that guilt should be a juggernaut, punishing all who have done wrong. John and Lorraine feel guilty about Mr. Pignati's death, and think that they "murdered" him. However, the reality is that neither John nor Lorraine had anything to do with the direct event that ended Mr. Pignati's life. Bobo, the baboon who was Mr. Pignati's old friend, would have died anyway. On page 164, after Mr. Pignati dies, Lorraine says, "We murdered him". This shows that Lorraine thinks that she is guilty of Mr. Pignati's death. In addition to that, on page 20, John says, "Maybe we speeded things up a little, but we couldn't say we murdered him. Not murdered him". This hints at the feelings John keeps inside him. He still thinks that he has something to do with Mr. Pignati's death, but he does not know exactly what to say about it. He does feel guilty, one way or another. However, someone else might argue that maybe Mr. Pignati's heart could have taken the shock of losing Bobo if the previous heart attack caused by betrayal hadn't happened. The truth is that guilt was only because of betrayal. Betrayal is the main factor of Mr. Pignati's first heart attack. It is the action that triggers guilt afterwards. John and Lorraine choose to betray Mr. Pignati by throwing a huge party. However, the party backfires when people start destroying things and Norton shows up. Norton feels as if he was betrayed because he was not invited to the party, and as a result, goes on a rampage and smashes a large number of pigs, the prized possessions of Mr. Pignati. Mr. Pignati trusted John and Lorraine with his house, and he felt that he had a strong connection with them. He "knew" that they wouldn't do anything bad, because they were always acting so nice in front of him. They were his only human friends at the time. However, John proposes to throw a party, betraying Mr. Pignati's trust and ultimately leading to guilt afterwards. Mr. Pignati does not feel like he could trust John and Lorraine anymore, so he doesn't seem so enthusiastic about them. This leads to the two kids experiencing guilt and evokes the desire to compensate by going to the zoo with Mr. Pignati.

To cure guilt, one must be committed to the "antidote." One cure is confessing. Although confessing will get the burden off, it will have some consequences. Confessing is the act of letting all inner secrets out or simply admitting to something wrong. Confession can be hard at times, however. The pros can outnumber the cons. There is an alternative to curing guilt, and this way is compensation. Although the guilt would not completely go away, it will ease the burden. Compensation is also an easier way to get out of sticky situations. One only has to face the possibility of giving up something important. Also, the compensation will not let the other person know about the situation that caused the guilt. Confessing and compensation can be a very powerful antidote. This method ensures that the person one is talking to knows about the situation, and it also makes the person feel better, as it is human nature to feel pity and try to help others.

In the book The Pigman by Paul Zindel, John and Lorraine betray Mr. Pignati, and that resulted in guilt. Guilt is human nature, and in this era, there is no way to prevent guilt. There will always be a period of bad feelings due to guilt, and there will always be a period of satisfaction or doubt after one confesses or compensates. Guilt can be caused by anything. However, it is not always due to something serious. Because of the different scenarios causing guilt, man (and woman) may never find the true meaning of guilt. It is within humankind's hearts, and that is probably why people are so restricted to learning about it.

Sources:

Zindel, Paul. Pigman. New York: HarperTrophy, 2005. Print.