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Chapter 6
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in When You Trap a Tiger, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Inherited Stories vs. Personal Agency
Magic and Belief
Food and Connection
Grief, Loss, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Lily, who’s only ever seen the beautiful and glamorous version of Halmoni, is shocked to see her throwing up in the bathroom and finds herself frozen in place. When Halmoni recovers, Lily tentatively asks if she’s sick, and Halmoni responds that she is okay. Lily tells Halmoni that she couldn’t sleep because she was thinking about the tiger she saw, and Halmoni says she’ll tell Lily what she stole.
Halmoni’s vulnerable moment in the bathroom suggests that her situation may be more complicated than she’s letting on. In a way, the stories that Halmoni weaves about herself and the stories of Halmoni’s beauty and glamour with which Lily is familiar seem to defy what Lily witnesses in real life, suggesting that reality may not always reflect the stories that people tell each other.
Active
Themes
