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Chapter 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Tiger Rising, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom and Consequences
Emotion, Repression, and Healing
Friendship and Support
Good, Evil, and Balance
Religion, Beauty, and Wonder
Summary
Analysis
As soon as Rob steps onto the bus, Norton and Billy begin to torment Rob. They begin by teasing him about not being a “Kentucky star,” and then they pull his hair and grind their knuckles into his scalp. Rob doesn’t fight back—it never works. The bus driver doesn’t defend him, either. So Rob just takes it as the boys make fun of his rash and hurt him. He thinks about the tiger to keep from crying in pain. Then, to the three boys’ shock, the bus stops long before it reaches town and the next stop. The bus driver opens the door, and a girl in a pink dress climbs aboard.
Rob has learned that passivity and stoicism are the best ways to endure hardship. The thought of the tiger continues to give Rob something to latch onto and escape his current reality, continuing to develop its symbolism: it represents emotional freedom for Rob. The girl boarding the bus is framed as unusual, just like the tiger in the woods is, suggesting that Rob’s life will be upended yet again by her arrival.
Active
Themes
