Skip to main content

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? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more