Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

“Her face turned all red.” 

After sending Joey to calm himself in the hallway, Mrs. Maxy emerges from the classroom when he creates a noisy disturbance by spinning around and bouncing into the lockers. She directs him to stand still for five minutes; if he is unable to do so, she will send him to the principal’s office. When she asks which option he will choose, Joey responds, “Can I get back to you on that?’ thereby repeating the phrase that caused him to be sent out of the classroom. Joey is aware of the impact of his behavior upon Mrs. Maxy, who is clearly distraught, but he is unable to stop himself from reiterating it. 

“‘I just want to smooth things out,’ said the lady who was my mom.”

Joey’s mother and father left him in the care of his grandmother when he was in kindergarten, and have been out of contact since then. When Mom returns unexpectedly, Joey has no idea who she is. She apologizes for having been gone for so long and introduces herself to her son. Immediately upon her return, she starts to organize the chaotic household and establishes a set of rules for Joey. Initially, this leads to conflict with her son; however, he comes to realize that his mother is able to help him when he loses control. Grandma resents Mom’s return and eventually leaves the household to reside with Joey’s father in Pittsburgh. 

“But she was sick like me, only old, so her sickness was different.”

Despite the problems that he has had with his grandmother, Joey realizes that she attempted to care for him when his parents absconded. He perceives that many of her erratic behaviors and mercurial moods are the result of the same disorder that affects him. His mother helps him to understand that his grandmother’s verbal cruelty was associated with her condition. People who were unaware of her tendency toward ADHD attributed her behavior to age, but Joey recognizes some of his own characteristics in her. He displays great compassion for her despite the verbal abuse she has subjected him to. 

“And I didn’t because most of the time I wasn’t even in the classroom.” 

Joey’s mother receives a lengthy report from school regarding his academic progress and classroom demeanor. She explains that he should have been required to repeat grades and given additional help, but he was passed because no teacher wanted him as a student for two consecutive years. His mother wearily expresses an understanding of the teachers’ reasoning, noting that Joey is a “handful” at times.

Conversely, Joey cannot understand why he is perceived as causing such difficulty because he is sent out of the classroom so often. He recalls lengthy periods spent in the principal’s or nurse’s office, running laps outdoors, helping in the cafeteria or library, stacking supplies and running to the parking lot to roll up the teachers’ car windows when it rained.

“I loved the sound of the wood and the lead being ground down.”

After becoming more aware of Joey’s behavioral and learning challenges, his teacher, Mrs. Maxy, makes genuine efforts to accommodate him when he starts to feel hyperactive. When he becomes “antsy” one afternoon, the teacher gives him a box of old pencils to sharpen with an old-fashioned, crank sharpener. Joey has a strong sensory response to this mechanism, and he becomes fascinated with the sharpening process. This distraction is successful until the young boy decides to try to sharpen his fingernail in the machine, leading to a bloody incident and a trip to the nurse’s office for emergency treatment of his injured finger. 

“I felt like some kind of bad dog that had pooped all over the carpet, eaten the slippers, and attacked the mailman, and was now being sent to obedience school.” 

Swallowing his house key during class is a turning point for Joey. His teacher is very alarmed, and the school nurse induces vomiting in an effort to have him regurgitate the key. The school principal, Mrs. Jarzab, meets him in the nurse’s office and brings him to the Special Ed classroom, housed in the school basement, where she explains that he will be given extra help in learning how to sit still. Joey is frightened by some of the other children whom he describes as suffering from extensive physical and intellectual disabilities. His self-esteem is diminished even further when he realizes that he is to become a member of this group

“Then suddenly, it just seemed all the energy drained out of me and the yellow walls were so bright that I closed my eyes and fell asleep.” 

Mrs. Howard, the Special Ed teacher, tests Joey’s ability to be still by seating him in the “Big Quiet Chair,” a sturdy metal chair bolted to the floor. Joey eventually succumbs to the desire to kick and writhe in the chair; however, it does not move at all. Mrs. Howard removes Joey’s shoes and has him wear bunny rabbit slippers. She explains that he will have to wear the slippers until he can sit in the chair without kicking. Overwhelmed by his own depression, his sadness for the more severely disabled students in the room and their wearied mothers, and the bruises sustained while trying to kick the chair, Joey feels depleted and falls asleep. 

“That was the best part of my day right there, sticking my head out the window like a dog.” 

Joey is delighted to visit the Amish country on a school trip. He is happy and well intentioned, but the change of environment and diet coupled with his hyperactivity result in problems. Mrs. Maxy forbids him to eat a piece of the sugary shoe fly pie that he has been craving all morning due to her concern about behavioral consequences; he eventually pilfers and consumes an entire pie himself. During the ensuing sugar high that he experiences, Joey climbs to the rafters of a barn and injures his ankle when he jumps to the hay bales far below. The trip that he started with such optimism and enthusiasm becomes a great disappointment. 

“And everyone else, teachers and parents and Amish, were all looking at me as if they were at the zoo and I was something in a cage.” 

Joey’s impulsivity does not allow him to wait in the rafters he has climbed for the Amish man climbing toward him on a ladder. When he is injured jumping into the hay, his teacher tries to determine if his ankle is broken and points out the repercussions of his behavior upon himself and others. He sees his classmate, Maria Dombrowski, who is recording the names of errant students, write his name on a pad. It becomes clear to him that everyone involved in the trip is watching him with disdain as a result of his antics. 

“This was a good break because after the field trip Mrs. Maxy said she and me and Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Jarzab and my mom and Nurse Holyfield were all going to have a big meeting discuss the ‘next step’ for me.” 

Joey is trepidatious about his return to school on the day following the disastrous series of events on the Amish country field trip. He fears the outcome of the meeting about the ‘next step’ for him, and he is relieved to see a substitute teacher taking Mrs. Maxy’s place in the classroom the next morning. Joey is desperate to prove to his teacher, his mother, and himself that he is capable of performing well in a regular classroom. He is fearful of intervention by administrators, such as the principal, who may determine that he is unable to remain in a classroom with mainstream students. 

“I wanted to work on my new idea to change the world even though I could feel my meds wearing down like they do every time I eat something.” 

Joey is an idealist at heart. He feels inspired by the speaker’s suggestion that her audience find a way to make the world better, and he is delighted with his idea of creating bumper stickers proclaiming that “Hate is Not a Family Value.” He foregoes recess in order to return to the classroom to work on his project. Despite his good intentions, Joey realizes that his medication is becoming ineffective as it usually is during the afternoon. This is the first time that Joey correlates the diminished effect of the medication with having ingested food. 

“She borrowed a car and got here so fast Maria had just left in the ambulance and Mom was still breathing heavily as she wiped away the lines of sweat around her neck.” 

The aftermath of Joey’s accident with Maria Dombrowski is very traumatic. His mother is called to leave her job in the beauty parlor to meet with the principal and her son. Joey notices that she had borrowed a car to rush to school, was breathing heavily, and was clearly agitated upon her arrival. Joey’s mother, Fran, made tremendous strides and overcame challenges in her own life to return to care for Joey; nonetheless, she faces extreme stress from every side. In noting that his mother borrowed a car to rush to school, Joey gives the reader a clue as to minimal salary upon which his mother is supporting them. 

“My mother slapped it out of my hand and that was the first moment I realized she was mad at me too.” 

Although Joey’s mother is very supportive of him during the meeting with the principal regarding Maria Dombrowski’s injury, she is very shaken by the event. When Mrs. Jarzab attempts to recount the many incidents in which Joey has been involved over the school year, Fran tells her to “Just skip it” and advocates for her son’s quick return to a mainstream classroom (78). Subsequent to the meeting, Joey bends to pick up what he thought might have been the tip of Maria’s nose, hoping that he might return it in order to make amends. When she slaps his hand angrily, Joey fears that he has lost his mother’s support. 

“‘They shouldn’t let messed-up kids go to school with regular kids,’ he said.” 

Joey feels overcome with guilt and remorse in the aftermath of his mishap with Maria. He walks to her house to apologize and her irate father threatens to hurt Joey and his entire family should his daughter ever be hurt again. Joey responds that he is “only a little messed up,” and this enrages Mr. Dombrowski further. Despite his challenges, Joey is usually able to endear himself to adults, but this situation is a notable exception. 

“Your luck is changing.” 

Joey is terribly fearful about his upcoming special ed school placement, and he is very disappointed when his mother explains that she will not be able to stay home to put him on the bus for his first day there. Nonetheless, she talks to him about not allowing himself to succumb to negative thoughts and promises him that he can get a dog if he does well in special ed. Joey is thrilled and has chosen a Chihuahua as the breed of puppy that he anticipates will join the household. 

“She was the only thing I had and it wasn’t funny to have someone tease me that I was a foster kid.” (

When the bus driver stops to get Joey, he mistakes him for another new student who is in foster care and asks Joey whether he is the “new foster kid” (90). Joey, who still views his transfer to the Special Ed Center as a punishment, is terrified that his mother is being taken away because of his accident with Maria Dombrowski. The new foster child is picked up at the following stop, and Joey feels very sorry for him. Given the fact that both of his parents absconded, leaving him in his grandmother’s care when he was in kindergarten, it is understandable that he would be terrified of having his mother taken from him. Joey is so overwhelmed by fear and grief that he feels responsible for every negative incident that occurs; he is in a constant state of expectation regarding punishment and loss. 

“And because I didn’t know which to do I thought of my mom, who had already pulled herself together, and now it was my turn.” 

Joey fights the strong impulse to flee from the school bus when the driver stops and opens the door to listen for approaching trains at the railroad crossing. He perceives this as a maneuver meant to tantalize him, and he starts to sweat. He remembers his conversation with his mother, Fran, who told him that she had erred terribly in abandoning him but had pulled herself together to return and care for him. Joey has promised to reciprocate by improving his behavior; he manages to overcome thoughts of absconding as the bus starts to move again. 

“‘Special Ed asked me if you drink,’ I said.” 

While it is not directly stated, it is inferred that Joey’s mother, Fran, drank to excess in the past. She makes repeated references to having pulled herself together, and she calls the Amaretto sours that Joey mixes for her in the evening her “medicine.” When Joey has an honest conversation with Ed at school and arrives home upset, he and his mother are in conflict. She is unhappy with the amount of information that Joey shared about their home life, and Joey suggests that she try to refrain from drinking so much. 

“He wouldn’t know you if he saw you.”

Joey engages in magical thinking during the bus ride to Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital with his mother. He fantasizes that he may encounter his father by chance and that the pair would reunite. His mother dashes his hopes, advising Joey that his father would not recognize him if they were to meet him. Joey is anxious about the diagnostic test of his brain that awaits him, and he is hurt by the fact that his father would not know him. He leans his head on the window and sleeps. 

“I was drinking with your father and wasn’t taking good care of myself.”

Fran becomes more honest about her history of alcohol as the story progresses. She is hurt by the thought that Joey awaited her return at the front window every night; conversely, she cannot bear to hear the boy’s angry recounting of the story. She admits that, while she was struggling to become well enough to resume caring for Joey, she often walked by the house in the hope that she might glimpse Joey and be given “[…] extra strength to pull myself together” (128). 

“I got down on my hands and knees like a dog and put them in my mouth.” 

Although Joey maintains his composure and remain motionless during the brain scan, he becomes irritated with his mother afterwards and creates a commotion in the gift shop. The boy is drawn to the large, expensive presents that are on display there, but his mother reminds him that she has a limited budget. When she suggests that he buy a postcard, he angrily spins the rack until the cards fall to the floor. His mother requests that he help to pick them up, and he falls to the ground and imitates a dog. 

“I reached over and squeezed her hand because I knew how it felt to be in trouble.” 

Dr. Preston advises Joey and his mother that the boy’s condition can improve with a combination of medication, behavior therapies and positive family conditions. Joey’s mother is clearly uncomfortable by the doctor’s reference to “family conditions,” she bites her lip, pulls on her skirt, and crosses and uncrosses her legs. Joey has compassion for her; he realizes that she feels ashamed and guilty for having deserted him for several years. He empathizes with her and squeezes her hand to comfort her. 

“I just stood there thinking that I was finally going down the right path to being better.” 

After meeting with Dr. Preston and Special Ed, Joey feels that he is being given a new life. He is appreciative of the care and medication he’s receiving. Joey realizes that he would not revert to his old behaviors now unless he “messed up” (143); he resolves not to do so. Joey has experienced a great deal of grief, rejection, and emotional trauma in his young life. It is illustrative of his essential resilience that he is able to experience such optimism.