The Christmas Pig

By describing Jack’s strong attachment to Dur Pig, and later, to the Christmas Pig, the author examines the intensity of children’s love for their toys, and the narrative suggests that this common dynamic harbors deeper undercurrents of love, friendship, and the need for belonging and understanding. By imagining an alternate universe in which Jack’s toys reciprocate his love for them, Rowling creates a story that celebrates children’s vivid imaginations and the unique worlds and relationships they invoke when they play with their toys. Long before he ventures into the Land of the Lost, the young Jack treats DP as a person and thinks carefully about how he can meet the pig’s needs. For instance, Jack believes that DP loves to sit in the sand, so he buries him at the beach. Because Jack believes that DP sleeps best in “cozy spaces,” he often hides the toy in the furniture to give him the best napping spots.

While DP is a fun play thing for Jack, the pig’s significance to Jack’s emotional well-being is most obvious when the narrative reveals that Jack confides in the toy as if DP were a living person. Because DP is always ready to “listen” and provide comfort, the toy fills a relational void in Jack’s life.