Javiera Seplveda

Professor Carola Oyarzn

Drama LET1745
19 June 2014
Fat Pig
In Neil LaButes Fat Pig, a noticeable aspect of the play is the idea of appearances.
Particularly, an element that reflects this topic is the relationship between Tom and his colleague
Carter, who, given by certain details in the play, may be seen as quite similar in personality:
people who are very concerned about how everyone looks or what they might think about
themselves,which sets up one of the possible reasons of Toms final decision of ending his
relationship with Helen.
Fat Pig deals with the relationship that surges between Tom, a rather plain man, and a
woman who is visibly obese to the eyes of the public, as well as how peer pressure and judgment
from others influence Tom, to the point of setting them apart. One aspect that the reader may
consider is Toms personality, taking into account that he really seems interested in Helen, but he
still is not able to stand up for their relationship and confront Carter, his apparent friend that
makes discriminatory remarks about his girlfriend, a person that is regarded as shallow and that
bases all his actions on physical appearance. In that sense, it could be argued that the reason why
Tom still remains friends with Carter is because they are rather similar, being the only difference
the actual acceptance of considering themselves as shallow and judgmental, as seen when Carter
tries to get all the details of Tom and Helens relationship. Tom refuses to do so and Carter says
CARTER. Everybodys got dirt, my friend! We are dirty, us folks. Very dirty.
TOM. Whos us folks?
CARTER. People. You and me-type people (17).
Seplveda 2

Under this evidence, it can be seen that Tom seems to not accept his personality. He believes that
he is different from Carter, not judging by how people look. However, Carter confronts him a
second time, telling Tom that they are alike in personality, saying You laugh at the same jokes
and check out the same asses that I do, you date all these gals and act like youre Mr. Sensitive,
but how does it always end up? The exact same way it does for me you get bored . . .or feel a
touch nervous, and you dropem like they were old produce (52). Again, Tom denies it and
Carter continues to highlight their similarities, being sincere that even though their behavior is
not acceptable, it is nothing to be ashamed of, although Tom clearly does. He is afraid of
accepting his feelings about the way he is and clearly not wanting to be seen and regarded as
superficial, but in the end he succumbs to the pressure from his peers when he decides to break
up with Helen, telling her what he truly felt, as seen in the last pages of the play I guess I do care
what my peers feel about me. Or how they view my choices, and yes, maybe that makes me not
very deep . . . Its my Achilles flaw or something. By doing this, he justifies and demonstrates
what Carter said about him, finally accepting his nature, and constituting one of the reasons why
he decides to leave Helen.
In the light of this evidence, it can be argued that Neil Labute deals with how people face
differences and how one can judge others by their appearance, exemplifying it with the character
of Tom, his friendship with Carter and the conflict that he struggles with: accepting that he
actually acts the same way that Carter does, caring about appearances and what his friends think,
which constitutes an explanation and powerful reason of his behavior and final decision, but not
an absolute one, considering that there are more elements influencing the actions of the
characters, such as the environment, the media, the culture in which they are inserted in, etc. and,
thus, by analyzing all these aspects altogether, it could be easier to understand the whole
development of the play.