2.2. A Tiger in the Zoo - Class 10 - First Flight

📘A Tiger in the Zoo - Notes 

Author : Leslie Norris

Textbook: First Flight

Genre: Poem

📝 Summary

The poem A Tiger in the Zoo contrasts the life of a tiger in captivity with how it would live in its natural habitat. The poet describes the tiger walking in its cage with quiet anger, limited to a few steps despite its strength. The tiger’s natural home should be the jungle, where it would lurk in shadows, hunt deer near waterholes, and instill fear around village edges. However, in the zoo, the tiger is helpless and isolated, caged in concrete walls, unable to express its natural instincts. The poem paints a picture of the tiger’s confinement and suppressed strength, while also highlighting its beauty and lost freedom. At night, the tiger hears patrolling cars and gazes silently at the brilliant stars—perhaps dreaming of the wild world outside. The poem raises questions about freedom, dignity, and the ethics of confining wild animals.

👤 Character Sketch

The Tiger:

The tiger is shown as majestic and powerful, but its strength is rendered useless in captivity. In the wild, it would be a fierce predator, but inside the cage, it is silent and full of suppressed rage. The poet gives the tiger a voice of protest through quiet movements and intense gazes, making the reader sympathize with its plight.

📚 Themes

✨ Literary / Poetic Devices

📖 Title Justification

The title "A Tiger in the Zoo" aptly captures the essence of the poem. It focuses on the life of a majestic tiger restricted within the walls of a zoo, contrasting sharply with its natural behavior in the wild. The title prepares the reader to think about the unnatural setting of a wild animal and makes the reader reflect on human actions that take away an animal's freedom.

✅ One-Mark Questions

1. What is the tiger doing in the cage? → The tiger is walking back and forth inside the limited space of his cage, expressing his anger and frustration silently.
   

2. How does the tiger move in the cage? → The tiger moves silently on his soft, velvet-like paws, showing no aggression outwardly but filled with inner rage.
   

3. Where should the tiger be instead of the cage? → The tiger should be in his natural habitat—the jungle—lurking in the shadowy areas and stalking his prey near the water hole.
   

4. What does the tiger hear at night? → At night, the tiger hears the sound of patrolling cars that pass by the zoo, indicating human presence and control over his life.
   

5. What is the tiger looking at in the last stanza? → In the final stanza, the tiger is looking at the brilliant stars in the sky through the bars of his cage, dreaming of freedom.

   
   

✅ Three-Mark Questions

1. How is the tiger’s movement described in the cage?

   → The poet describes the tiger's movement inside the cage as quiet and restrained. He walks in slow steps, pacing up and down in a small area on his soft, velvet-like paws. Although he makes no sound, there is a sense of suppressed anger and helplessness in his movement. The phrase “quiet rage” shows the contrast between his majestic nature and his current condition of captivity.

   
   

2. What kind of life should the tiger be living in the jungle?

   → The tiger should be living freely in the wild, where he would lurk in the shadows of tall grass and silently stalk his prey. He would have the freedom to roam near water holes, hunt deer, and move fearlessly in the forest. The poet also imagines him snarling around the edges of villages, showing his natural strength and wild instincts, which are suppressed in the zoo.

   
   

3. How does the poet use contrast to show the tiger’s condition?

   → The poet uses vivid imagery to highlight the stark contrast between the tiger’s natural life in the jungle and his restricted life in the zoo. In the jungle, the tiger is free, powerful, and in control of his territory. He hunts, roams, and exhibits his strength. In contrast, in the zoo, he is confined to a small cage, walks endlessly in frustration, and is reduced to a passive figure. This contrast emphasizes the injustice of captivity and evokes sympathy in the reader.

   
   

🧠 Value-Based Question

Q: What moral lesson can we learn from the poem "A Tiger in the Zoo"? 

The poem teaches us that freedom is a basic right not just for humans but also for animals. Keeping wild animals in captivity for human pleasure is unethical and robs them of their dignity and natural behavior. It encourages us to respect wildlife and promote conservation through natural habitats instead of confinement.

End

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