67 pages • 2 hours read
Kate DiCamilloThe Tiger Rising
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary
When the school bus pulls up in front of the Kentucky Star, Rob ignores Billy and Norton’s taunts. This time they jeer at Rob, saying he has leprosy and that Sistine is his “girlfriend” (39). Sistine brings Rob his homework. He notices that her green dress is ripped, and her knuckles are bloody. Rob doesn’t want to talk to Sistine, but she asks why the motel is called the Kentucky Star. He explains that it is named after the owner’s horse. It begins to rain again, and as they stare at each other, Rob feels a change inside him. He tells Sistine that he knows about a tiger in the woods. Sistine does not express any doubt, she just asks “Where?” (42). From her reaction, Rob knows that Sistine was the “right person to tell” (42).
Chapter 12 Summary
Sistine wants to see the tiger immediately, but Rob worries that her clothes are too nice to hike through the woods. Sistine says she’ll borrow some of Rob’s. They go to Rob’s motel room and Sistine examines it closely. She finds the carvings that Rob has whittled—including the one he is working on of her—and she is impressed by his skill. She compares Rob to Michelangelo, who was also a sculptor. Rob is happy but embarrassed by the praise. Sistine puts on a pair of Rob’s pants and a t-shirt. While Sistine changes, Rob waits outside in the light rain. He thinks longingly about having a friend—which is one of his wishes that he has buried “deepest” (45) of all. However, Rob tells himself it’s not possible.
Chapter 13 Summary
As they walk through the damp woods, Sistine tells Rob about her family. Sistine’s mother grew up in Lister but swore never to return. She’s only back because she left Sistine’s father after he had an affair with his secretary, Bridgette. Sistine declares that her father will soon return to take her away. Rob feels the hopelessness of wishing for a friend. Sistine suggests that her mother could sell some of Rob’s sculptures at a shop she plans to open. Sistine asks repeatedly about Rob’s mother. Rob cautions Sistine to be quiet, because Beauchamp owns the woods and they could get in trouble. Sistine angrily declares that she doesn’t care about Beauchamp. She is mad because she shared personal information about her family and Rob didn’t reciprocate. Sistine tells him to keep his “stupid secrets” and his “stupid tiger” (48). She starts walking back to the Kentucky Star. Rob watches her leave and remembers his dream. He doesn’t want Sistine to leave again. Rob runs after Sistine and tells her that his mother is dead. Together they go to see the tiger.
Chapter 14 Summary
Sistine and Rob find the tiger in a rusty cage secured by three padlocks. The tiger ignores them and continues pacing back and forth. Sistine and Rob admire the tiger’s beauty. Sistine quotes lines from a poem: “Tiger, tiger burning bright” (51). Rob likes the sound of the words. Sistine is angry that the tiger is caged. She believes it is “selfish” (51) for Beauchamp to keep it just to look at. She determinedly tells Rob that they should set the tiger free. Rob tries to dissuade her from this plan by arguing that there are all those locks and that it isn’t their tiger. Sistine counters that locks can be cut and says, “It’s our tiger to save” (52). When they hear an approaching car engine, they grab hands and run into the woods. Rob laughs when Sistine tells him to stop shrugging, and she joins in. Rob feels happy for the first time in a long while.
Chapter 15 Summary
When Rob and Sistine return to the Kentucky Star, Rob’s father is waiting for them in the darkness outside their room. He asks Rob where he’s been and if he’s finished his chores. Rob replies to his questions and introduces Sistine, who says she needs to call her mother. There is no phone in Rob’s motel room, so Rob’s father offers some change for Sistine to use at the pay phone in the laundry room. Sistine leaves to make her call. Rob explains that Sistine is wearing his clothes because her dress was too nice for the woods. Rob’s sudden happiness is gone. The motel room is dim and gloomy. He remembers the Christmas before his mother died, and how she had decorated their house with lots of white lights. It was bright, and beautiful, and they were all happy together. Rob chastises himself for allowing that memory to surface.
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
Rob’s suitcase continues to crack open, releasing hope and wishes and memories. Although he tries not to talk to Sistine, he can’t help it. Rob feels himself “open up” inside (41), and he trusts Sistine with both his secret about the tiger and the truth about his mother. Rob still attempts to keep emotions repressed: He shuts down his wish for a friend and tries to withdraw when Sistine asserts that she’ll be leaving when her father comes. Rob tries to pretend he doesn’t care when Sistine marches away after she yells at him for being noncommunicative.
Sistine teaches Rob about the give-and-take nature of friendship. When Rob refuses to reciprocate with information about his mother, Sistine angrily asserts that Rob doesn’t “know how to talk to people” (48). She is right: Rob has been isolated, friendless, and used to keeping things to himself. After making herself vulnerable by sharing that she is having family problems, Sistine expects a true friend to empathize and share in return. Sistine also reveals her dislike of secrets and uncommunicativeness. Sistine prefers to address things directly and honestly. Like Willie May, Sistine hates Rob’s silent shrugging, seeing it as a nonverbal non-answer: another way of not actually communicating.
Their friendship begins to grow, and Rob experiences happiness “pushing up” (53) for the first time in a long while, and even laughs out loud. He feels joyful when Sistine admires his carvings. Rob’s rash mirrors his inner emotions. The rash flares up like a fire under Sistine’s praise, and he tries to “calm” and “cool” his legs down (44, 45). When Rob’s happiness fades, his legs begin to itch. Rob experiences a memory of his mother, of light and happiness, which contrasts with the present reality of his dimly lit motel room and his sadness. This juxtaposition of light and darkness aligns with the motifs of sun and rain: opposites that express the theme of emotional repression and freedom.
In this section, DiCamillo expands on the theme of the power of art and words to affect and exhibit peoples’ emotions. Upon seeing the tiger, Sistine cites lines from William Blake’s poem, “The Tyger,” from his 1794 collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sistine is inspired to quote Blake to express her feelings. In the poem, Blake ponders the nature of the tiger’s creator. DiCamillo uses the quote from “The Tyger” to illustrate both the wild beauty of the tiger, and, as Rob observes, the “fierce and beautiful” (51) nature of Blake’s words.
The beauty of the animal and Blake’s poem powerfully impact Rob and Sistine. Sistine’s voice softens when she experiences beauty: Rob notices this when Sistine appreciates his carvings and when she sees the tiger. Rob is also attuned to words: He wants to ask Sistine to repeat the lines. Art and words offer a channel for emotional expression.
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By Kate DiCamillo
