Explanation of Adaptation

The Tiger by William Blake is a poem that explores the nature of good, evil, human nature and the divine. The word 'symmetry' ultimately implies a kind of perfection, something so far removed from "humanity" that it must be divine - the work of God(s). When Blake implores "Did He who made the lamb make thee?", it is a juxtaposition of the innocence of the lamb and the deadly nature of the Tiger.

We are faced with a query of God - but more importantly, human nature. It is in the realisation that both the lamb and the Tiger are made by the same thing - whether God or simply the labeling, naming nature of humanity - that spells the end of innocence.

Did we, as humans, make lamb innocent? Or did God? Did we, as humans, make the Tiger ferocious? Or did God? What the lamb and Tiger have come to symbolize could be a direct consequence of either "possibility" - but it is the understanding that hand in hand with innocence comes its breaking is what I feel is important.

Perhaps, most importantly, is that the Tiger does not just symbolize the opposite of innocence - it symbollizes human nature and the breaking of innocence that must happen to every child. Presumably, Blake does not believe in the concept of Original Sin.




Simon, the protagonist, is just a small boy, no taller than 5 feet high. He is probably only around 8 or 9 years old but obviously belongs to a religious family.

We don't know at first, but we find out toward the end that he has gone exploring and subsequently got lost. Presumably his parents are on Safari, though his mother is not alluded to and he may just be with his Father.

Simon believes (and whether or not it is true is irrelevant) that he is being hunted by a Tiger. He has taken refuge high in a tree and not drank or eaten for 2 days. It is when he recalls what his Uncle Roger has said, about the Tiger being a nightmare, that his mind kind of "flicks" and he begins to show symptoms of stroke. His heightened anxiety and low water levels no doubt contribute to these symptoms. His Uncle Roger also talks about the Tiger being invisible - much like the line which one crosses where his or her innocence is broken. When do children stop being innocent? There is no threshold.

He starts to hear a voice in his head, interrogating him about his beliefs. Will "He" - alluding to God - really save Simon? Who created the Tiger? Essentially, whoever created good created evil too. It is this shattering of Simon's innocence that exacurbates his stroke symptoms and he begins to panic as the truth smothers him, envelopes him.

He directs his emotion at the moon - something grounded in science - as if mocking his religious beliefs. This is the irony alluded to.

When his innocence i finally fully broken, he weeps all night and the completion of this transition is marked by the onset of severe stroke symptoms. Dying of thirst, Simon probably doesn't make it.

The Tiger, in my adaptation, is used to symbolize human nature and the chasing of all that is dark and evil in humanity - it is chasing Simon, catching him. But he is alone, in a tree, by himself and is forced to go through the realisation by himself through religious allegory. Usually, children have the support of parents and family and friends as they begin to realise that people can very much be horrible creatures.

Perhaps it is why I have created the stroke symptoms - physiologically, it fits. Simon is dehydrated, hasn't eaten nor moved in 2 day. He gets hot in the day and cold at night. But, more importantly, symbolically, the stroke might simply represent the huge impact of the loss of innocence on a little boy all by himself.

It is a tragic story and not an entirely faithful adaptation - but the same questions of lambs and tigers, of gods and devils are raised as they are in Blake's original piece.