The Tiger in the Zoo - Leslie Norris

Theme:
A Tiger in the Zoo’ by Leslie Norris talks about a tiger kept in a zoo. The cage of the zoo not only
keeps a check on its movement but also makes its spirit dim. Habitually, it’s not comfortable in
such an enveloped environment.The cage has made him disabled. It somehow thrives to sustain
its spirit and struggles to keep it alive.
It makes the poet sad to think about how the soul of the wilderness is su ering behind bars. Men
keep the wild creatures engaged for amusement but never think about how they feel. Through this
poem, Norris depicts how a tiger feels inside the little space of its chamber.

Poet’s work focuses on the following:

1) Freedom vs captivity,
2) tamed vs wild,
3) wilderness and natural beauty
4) Attitude of men towards animals.
5) Liberty over entertainment
6) Agony and hopelessness

Literary devices: ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’

Synecdoche– part for whole.

Vivid stripes – the stripes represent his whole body.
Metaphor– (Indirect comparison)
Velvet quite – it was as quiet as walking on velvet
Personi cation – (Giving characteristics of humans to animals or inanimate objects)
Tiger has been personi ed as he moves in quiet rage and ignores visitors.
Oxymoron – use of opposites for emphasis
Quiet rage – Anger is usually loud.
Alliteration– (repetition of same sound in proximity)
Consonance – (repetition of consonant sound)
Plump deer pass – ‘p’ sound has been repeated
Concrete cell – ‘c’ sound is repeated
Behind bars – ‘b’ sound is repeated
Repetition– (repeating words for emphasis)
Velvet quiet/ quiet rage
Brilliant eyes/ brilliant stars
Asyndeton – absence of conjunction between parts of sentence
His fangs, his claws
Enjambment – a sentence continuing in the next line without punctuation
Stanzas 2, 3 and 5
Imagery – use of words to help the reader create a sensory image
Kinesthetic imagery – image of movement
fi
fi
ff
He stalks in vivid stripes
Sound imagery
Snarling around houses
Visual imagery
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!