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How does William Blake represent the animal in the poem "The Tyger?"

In the first stanza, the tiger is "fearful." The word "dread" is repeated three times in the poem. The tiger is associated with fear, dread, and terror. Clearly, the speaker is describing the tiger as something to be feared. This leads one to suppose other associations, such as violence or perhaps even evil. 


Note that in the fifth stanza, Blake invokes fallen angels and/or The Fall of Adam and Eve. This suggests that the tiger...

In the first stanza, the tiger is "fearful." The word "dread" is repeated three times in the poem. The tiger is associated with fear, dread, and terror. Clearly, the speaker is describing the tiger as something to be feared. This leads one to suppose other associations, such as violence or perhaps even evil. 


Note that in the fifth stanza, Blake invokes fallen angels and/or The Fall of Adam and Eve. This suggests that the tiger was created with or after The Fall. Therefore, the tiger comes after the fall from paradise. The tiger is born with the world of sin and experience. The tiger is coeval with the notions of original sin and the first experiences of fallen humanity. In this same stanza, the speaker asks if the same God created both the tiger and the lamb. The lamb is associated with Christ and peace. So, the speaker wonders if the same God could or would create two things so vastly different. The lamb is peace and love and the tiger represents ferocity and violence. Some interpret this poem to be a meditation on God's mysterious ways. Why would an omniscient or all-loving God create a world capable of something so violent? And generally speaking, why would an all-loving God create the potential for violence and suffering? 

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