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 26-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 26 Summary
Rob runs after Sistine and announces that he is going to let the tiger go. Beauchamp arrives unexpectedly and tells Rob that he left more meat for the tiger with Ida Belle. Beauchamp teases Rob about chasing girls and asks Sistine’s name. Rob worries that Sistine might say to him, but she tells Beauchamp her name is “Sissy” (104). Beauchamp approves. He makes sure that Rob is keeping his half of their secret deal, and then drives off. Sistine observes that Beauchamp gave Rob the job of feeding the tiger because Beauchamp fears the big cat. Rob knows this is true. He apologizes to Sistine for what he said about her father. Sistine admits that she knows her father is not coming but doesn’t care. They go to set the tiger free.
Chapter 27 Summary
Rob has no trouble opening the three locks on the tiger’s cage. He worries that the tiger may eat them, but Sistine isn’t afraid. Rob opens the door to the tiger’s cage, but the tiger does not come out and continues to pace. Sistine grabs the cage and shakes it, screaming at the tiger to leave. Rob is suddenly angry. He shouts at the tiger, yelling “Go on!” and rattling the cage (107). Finally, the tiger steps out of the cage, pauses to turn a “blazing” look on Rob and Sistine (108), and then runs swiftly away through the grass, looking “like the sun, rising and setting again and again” (108).
Chapter 28 Summary
Sistine tells Rob they did the right thing, but Rob thinks about Willie May’s bird, Cricket. To his surprise, Rob hears his father calling him by his full name. They hear Willie May scream, followed by a gunshot. Willie May runs up to them, giving thanks to Jesus that they are still alive. Rob feels stunned. Rob and Sistine follow Willie May back through the woods and see Rob’s father holding his hunting rifle, standing by the dead tiger. Rob feels anger “rise up” in him (110) and he yells at his father for killing his tiger. Rob hits and kicks his father, who stands motionlessly, holding his gun out of the way. Rob realizes his blows aren’t affecting his father. Rob screams that he wishes his father had died instead of his mother. Rob orders his father to say his mother’s name. His father whispers “Caroline,” sets his gun down, and hugs Rob. Rob returns the hug and says that he “needs” his mother. Rob’s father says he needs her too, but what they have is each other. Rob says he isn’t going to cry, but he cannot hold back his tears. His father cries too. Willie May holds Sistine, comforting her. Willie May explains to Rob that she figured out what they planned to do and told Rob’s father, “so he could save you” (113). Sistine says they must have a funeral for the tiger. Rob strokes the tiger’s fur and continues to cry.
Chapter 29 Summary
It rains while Rob and his father dig a hole for the tiger’s grave. Before they bury the tiger, everyone says a few words. Sistine repeats as much as she can remember of William Blake’s poem, “The Tyger.” Rob, with tears in his eyes, says simply that he loved the tiger. Willy May shares that she “ain’t had good experiences with animals in cages” (116) and lays the carving of Cricket on top of the tiger’s body to keep the tiger company. Rob’s father apologizes for shooting the tiger, but says he had to do it, “for Rob” (116). As Rob fills in the grave, the sun comes out, reminding him of his mother’s funeral. Sistine apologizes to Rob for making him release the tiger, but Rob says he doesn’t regret it. Sistine makes plans to tend the tiger’s grave. She takes Rob’s hand and apologizes for calling him names. She assures Rob that she doesn’t hate him: He is her best friend. They walk back to the motel, and Rob feels comforted and “lighter” (117).
Chapter 30 Summary
Later that evening, Rob’s father sings the gold mining song to Rob while he puts the medicine on Rob’s legs. Rob’s father awkwardly tells Rob that Caroline used to love that song, and Rob says he does too. Rob’s father says that he will admit to shooting the tiger, but Rob must confess to Beauchamp that he let the tiger out He warns that Beauchamp will be angry. Rob isn’t scared of Beauchamp because he knows the man is a coward. Rob’s father tells him that on Monday, Rob must go back to school. Rob isn’t upset because he knows that Sistine will be there. Rob’s father shares that he misses Caroline so much it is hard for him to even say her name, but that going forward, he will try harder for Rob’s sake. That night, Rob dreams he and Sistine are at the tiger’s grave and see a little green bird, that was Rob’s wooden bird, fly out of the tiger’s grave. Laughingly, they try to catch it, but the bird flies high and vanishes into a sky that is like the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When Rob awakens, he is happy to discover that the sun is shining. He plans to carve a tiger for Sistine.
Chapters 26-30 Analysis
Rob’s emotional suitcase opens fully at last. He knows intrinsically that Beauchamp is a coward, as he surprised himself by knowing that Sistine’s father would not return: “He must, he realized, know somewhere, deep inside him, more things than he had ever dreamed of” (105). Rob can make these discoveries because he allows himself to feel more of his own emotions, which makes him able to empathize with and understand others’ emotions.
All of Rob’s pent-up memories and emotions finally “rise up” (101). His sadness rises, his heart rises and falls in time to the tiger’s running leaps, and Rob’s anger also rises, “as big and powerful as the tiger” (110). When Rob shakes the tiger’s cage to force the big cat to leave, Rob is “suddenly furious” (107). Not only does the tiger emerge from its physical cage, but Rob’s feelings pour forth from his self-imposed emotional cage. Rob finally expresses his longing for his mother and his frustration with his father. Rob also forces his walled-off father to acknowledge the loss of Caroline. Instead of telling Rob not to cry, as he did at Caroline’s funeral, Rob’s father holds and comforts Rob like his mother used to (112). Rob’s father also cries, releasing his own sorrow. The emancipation of Rob’s emotions leaves him with the sensation of being “lighter, as if he had set something heavy down and walked away from it, without bothering to look back” (117). Rob no longer must guard against dangerous thoughts, wishes, or tears: The burden of suppressing himself is lifted. He is free to talk about his mother and show how he feels without fearing censure from his father.
Rob’s father shows his deep love for Rob by saving him from the tiger. He recognizes that both he and Rob “need” (112) Caroline in different ways, but now they must fill that need for each other. Rob’s father acknowledges that he has not been there for Rob because he has been pushing down his own sorrow. Rob’s father’s new vulnerability shows his love: He wants to make more of an effort to create the emotional connection that Rob misses from his mother.
Friendship proves to be a powerful healing force. Sistine’s friendship helps Rob express himself again. Because of her friendship, he doesn’t mind returning to school. Thanks to Rob and Willie May, Sistine also rescues herself from denial and anger.
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