This Little Piggy Goes to Harvard

Henrietta is a nice pig. A learned pig. A pink pig with dreams of rising in the ranks to work for social justice all across the land.

But when Henrietta applies to a certain esteemed law school in Cambridge, she is rejected without a second thought.

The porcine heroine of Henrietta, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet's eponymous children's book, appeals to both children and adults alike. Since its publication this winter, it has proven popular in Cambridge--an employee of the Harvard Coop says the book continues to be a strong seller.

"I think a lot of Harvard students are buying the book...in addition to parents buying the book for the children," the Coop's Yasser Cruywagen says.

That might be because beneath the simple story, many readers have detected something else: a jab at elitism and discrimination within Harvard, the "Great University" on the banks of the Charles.

In the story, Henrietta is a promising, intelligent pig who applies to a school that curiously resembles Harvard Law School.

Lacking credentials, the school has no time to teach her despite her "honest and inquiring mind."

Not willing to give up, Henrietta haunts the university's libraries until she has been "discovered one too many times" and is barred permanently, a "No Pigs" sign hung over a gray and forbidding door.

She takes to the streets, sightseeing and sleeping under moonlight by the Charles River. Finally despondent, she resigns herself to a life of homelessness, wondering "what she might have done to have come to another end."

Finally, Henrietta finds some good fortune, as she comes upon an "Old Vagabond" sitting on a park bench who has lost his glasses. The search proves "bootless," but she walks the president of the "Great University" home--and by recognizing his references to Hamlet and Oedipus Rex earns his respect.

Henrietta promptly gains admittance to the law school, finishes first in her class, and ends up on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The story's adult tone has fueled speculation that it's not just for kids. Henrietta spouts lines like "Sir, you see before you one who, like our Sainted Lincoln, burns to serve through the medium of the Law..."

Illustrator Elizabeth Dahlie's drawings clearly place Henrietta at Harvard, as she approaches the steps of Widener Library or walks the University president to his home by The Charles Hotel, but those closely involved with the book downplay its political implications.

Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz says the book has a "nice, light message which could be interpreted politically," but he says he does not think Mamet's story is directed at Harvard specifically. Rather, he says, it is a jab at elitism in general, as represented in universities and the Supreme Court.

"I think it was a light jab," says Dershowitz, who is quoted on the book's back cover. "It was very well intentioned."

"Harvard Law School students need to be reminded every so often about our elitism," he adds.

Law School spokesperson Michael Chmura says that the press created a controversy where one did not exist.

"The Boston Globe started it off," Chmura says, referring to an article alleging that the book is a parable about Harvard's history of racial discrimination. "I haven't noticed any reaction [on campus]."

He adds that 25 percent of Law School students are minorities and that 47 percent of this year's entering class were women.

Dahlie declined to comment for this article, while Mamet--author of such well-renowned plays as "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "American Buffalo"--has not given an interview about his book thus far.

That'll Do, Pig

Mamet's book was based on a real-life Henrietta, who also inspired the restaurant Henrietta's Table in the Charles Hotel.

"Henrietta is a legendary, famous pig," says local real estate developer Richard Friedman, her Martha's Vineyard owner.

Dershowitz jokes that she is a better candidate for the Court than those on presumptive Republican nominee George W. Bush's short list of potential justices.

The 1,000-pound pig caught the eye of President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton when they stayed at Friedman's house six years ago, he says.

After their vacation was over, the Clintons wrote a letter praising Henrietta.

"Dear Dick: Thanks for a couple of months in pig heaven," they said.

Later, someone suggested that Friedman name his new restaurant after his muddy friend.

About a year ago, "I asked my buddy David Mamet, who is a playwright, to write a book about Henrietta coming to Harvard," Friedman says.

Friedman, who says he is not "gutsy" enough to kill his pigs, let Henrietta keep eating well past the 400-pound, 18-month limit at which pigs are generally slaughtered.

And after growing to half a ton, Henrietta finally took her last roll in the mud in 1998 at the age of 10.

But her memory persists.

"I knew Henrietta the pig," Dershowitz says. "She was a cute, large pig...she would have fit in beautifully at Harvard Law School."