The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
Rob Horton's Life Changes the Day He Finds a Tiger and Meets Sistine
Jun 22, 2009
In The Tiger Rising [2001, Candlewick Press, ISBN 0-7636-1898-5] by Kate DiCamillo, twelve year old Rob Horton has recently relocated from Jacksonville to Lister, Florida with his father to get a fresh start. They live and and work at the rundown Kentucky Star Motel owned by Beauchamp. In one day, Rob finds a tiger locked in a cage and meets a new girl at school, Sistine Bailey. Rob and Sistine come up with a plan to free the tiger, and in the process help to free each other.
Coping With Emotions
Rob deals with his sadness by keeping it bottled up. He does not feel able to deal with the grief of his mother's death because his father will not let him talk about it. He is bullied at school by two brothers because he is the new kid in town and because he has an unexplained, itchy rash on his legs, but again does not talk about it. Instead, he devised a plan to control his thoughts and feelings by imagining he is keeping them locked in a suitcase. He gets through the days by willing himself not to talk and not to cry.
Sistine, on the other hand, wears all of her emotions on the outside. She and her mother moved from Pennsylvania to Lister after an affair ends her parents marriage. Sistine is a rebellious girl who constantly lashes out with her anger. Bothered by the deception and lies in her life, Sistine just wants Rob to be truthful and honest with her, even when it is something that she does not want to hear.
A good friendship is formed between the two because they have so much in common. They are both outsiders, new to Lister. They are able to relate to each other since each has lost a parent and they are both unique. Rob finds happiness when spending time with Sistine, something he has not experienced since the death of his mother.
Infused With Art
Both Sistine and Rob yearn for beauty instead of misery in their lives. Sistine, named after the Sistine Chapel, is well-traveled and has visited numerous museums and galleries. Rob notices the distant look in her eyes and loves the way her voice changes when she is moved by the beauty around her.
Rob's experience with art is mostly book-learned. He learned how to whittle from his mother and has quite a talent for turning a piece of wood into a life-like work of art.
The Symbolism of the Tiger
Rob finds the tiger, pacing in a cage, on Beauchamp's property behind the Kentucky Star Motel. The pent up tiger symbolizes the thoughts and feelings that Rob has locked up. The strength of his friendship with Sistine grows when he shares this secret with her and she believes him right away, not even once laughing at him.
It is Sistine, in need of a fight, that comes up with the idea that the tiger must be freed. It is the climax of the story, when indeed they release the tiger, that Rob is also able to release his emotions.
The Tiger Rising is a National Book Award Finalist, A Book Sense 76 Selection and a Junior Library Guild Selection. Kate DiCamillo is also the author of Because of Winn Dixie, a Newbery Honor Book.
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