The Forty Developmental Assets in The Pigman by Paul...

Seventy five percent of girls have low self-esteem, and they have engaged in harmful activities. Self- esteem is only one of the Forty Developmental Assets. What are the Forty Developmental Assets? They are a set of building blocks that helps teenagers and people build up a healthy life. All good friends should have the Developmental Assets. In the novel, The Pigman by Paul Zindel, Lorraine Jensen demonstrates being caring, but she is missing self-esteem and positive peer influence. First, the character of Lorraine Jensen is missing a very important asset which is number thirty-eight, Self-esteem. This is when a teenager has a high self-esteem level. One example is how her mother is always putting her down and saying mean things to her.†¦show more content†¦As a result, â€Å" Dennis came over for the first round seven thirty because I told him to steal a bottle of 80 proofer out of his father’s whiskey cabinet,†(131). This is not positive peer influence because her best friend doesnt care about stealing which happens to be alcohol. This is the kind of people she hangs out with, and teenagers this young shouldnt drink, or steal no matter what age they are. Although Lorraine is missing Self-esteem and Positive Peer Influence she is very Caring, asset number twenty-six. Caring is when a teenager or person places high value on helping other people. Another example is how she doesnt think it is right to take money from the Pigman. For instance, Lorraine says, â€Å" ‘Because it’s wrong to take money from an old man, that’s why,’ †(30). This shows that Lorraine feels like if they were to take the money from the Pigman that she would be taking advantage of him. This also shows that she is caring because if she takes the money it’s wrong because there is no real reason to take it if they are just going to keep it for themselves. In addition to, â€Å"I tried to explain to him how dangerous it was, particularly smoking, and even went to the trouble of finding a case history similar to his in a book by Sigmund Freud,†(8). This is very caring because she went through so much trouble to find somethi ng that would help John Conlan, who is her best friend in the