How does John mature throughout The Pigman?

There is a definite difference between the John at the
start of the book and the John at the end. Note how the first chapter gives us an
accurate idea of John's character through the way that he sets himself up against the
establishment of school. He sets off firecrackers in his school and organises other
students to roll rotten apples towards substitute teachers. He drinks and smokes, and
definitely is presented as an anti-establishment figure. As the novel progresses, we see
that this is largely in response to his relationship with his parents. John deliberately
tries to inject fun and rebellion into his own character in response to the way that his
parents lead such a conventional and boring existence. This explains his happy-go-lucky
nature and the way that he throws a party in Mr. Pignati's house. It is often he that
has to drag the reluctant Lorraine with him along on their plans to cause
mischief.

However, at the end of the novel, after the
disaster of the party and the way that he recognises he was at fault, it is clear that
John has learnt a massive lesson. Note what he says towards the end of the final
chapter:

There
was no one else to blame anymore. No Bores or Old Ladies or Nortons, or Assassins
waiting at the bridge. And there was no place to hide--no place across any river for a
boatman to take us.

John is
forced to recognise that, with Mr. Pignati's death, there was something in him and
Lorraine that died as well, and that now, they had to face the consequences of their
actions. John realises that he cannot "blame" anybody else for his life, and that his
life would be "what we made of it--nothing more, nothing less." The symbol of the
monkeys is one that is tremendously important, as the last sentence of the novel
indicates:

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They build their own cages, we could almost hear
the Pigman whisper, as he took his children with
him.

John learns that he must
not "build his own cage" of irresponsibility. He has to accept responsibility for his
own life and the decisions and mistakes that he made just as he has recognised that he
was wrong to throw the party. He has moved from being a carefree, rebellious youth to a
position of maturity.