The key to understanding what is going on in this story—what it is that is really at stake—is a single sentence. Even though it is a sentence with which a new chapter commences, it is situated almost as a throwaway bit of necessary, but hardly exciting exposition. After presenting the story’s protagonist as a young child living with both parents still married to each, other but dealing with a troubled relationship, Chapter 3 lowers the boom in that opening sentence: “Dad didn’t live with them anymore after that.”
In an instant, the book is transformed into a tale of a young boy struggling to navigate the often treacherous waters of a broken home. The divorce of Jack’s parents happens quickly and almost before it even has time to register, it is suddenly a part of the recent past. Jack’s dad is no longer an everyday presence and his mother has moved on to the point of being on the verge of trying the whole marriage thing one more time. It only takes a few pages for Jack’s new savior/best friend Holly to be revealed as his future stepsister. Things move quickly in the first part of the book leading up to the point that Holly does the unthinkable by cruelly tossing Jack’s true best friend—his toy pig—out the window of a moving car. From that point on, the pace slows down considerably, but only to give ample opportunity for the surprisingly complex plot to play out. And yet, even though the story moves at a rapid pace, it will still take about forty pages of story before the first occurrence of what will prove to be the most important word in the book: “replacement.”
That first occurrence is spoken by the title character describing himself: “`I’m a Replacement,’ said the Christmas Pig.” And indeed, he is that very thing. Which, naturally, will lead readers—especially young ones of the age for whom the book is intended—to assume that the story is about the futility of trying to replace a beloved toy with a mere copycat. Most kids will eventually get it, of course, though it may not be until years afterward. But they will eventually realize that heavy focus on the concept of Replacement is about a lot more than toy pigs and address books. There are two towns in the weird world in which the Christmas Pig takes Jack in the odyssey to recover his lost pig. One is called Disposable and the other is called Bother-It’s-Gone. The difference lies in the intensity of what goes missing. Things that are considered worthless wind up in Disposable and those endowed with great meaning wind up in the other place. Except that, well, who is to say what is disposable and what is indispensable? When parents with a young child divorce, inevitably one enjoys the lion’s share of time. In other words, one parent becomes more disposable than the other. Usually not entirely disposable, true, but you get the idea.
The fantasy world aspect of A Christmas Pig could very well have been written exactly as is even had what led to the events that transpire there result from Jack’s biological sister tossing it out the window as his still-married parents were in the front seat. But that isn’t what the author constructed. Rowling very purposely kept Jack’s mom and dad alive but separated. She purposely introduced Holly as his savior on his first day at a new school before revealing that she is destined to become his stepsister. Holly’s father is going to be Jack’s replacement father—in a sense—by marrying Jack’s mom. And that is what is really at stake in the story. It is about far more than loved ones thinking they can replace a beloved toy with pale imitation and everything will be just dandy. It is about the processes of people in our lives being replaced and the expectation that it is just as easy simply because it also happens to be necessary.
