Flamingo Chapter 14 Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

Tigers are the animals that live or are found in the world of green. The denizens of the world of green–tell us that the tigers are the inhabitants of forests, that is, they live in forests freely prancing.

Chivalric means the majestic and worthy position they occupy like the knights. They have a fine position in the world of animals. Both these words tell about the attitudes of the wild animals.

Aunt Jennifer is working with her ivory needle on her wool. Her fingers are quivering. She is busy knitting after making the tigers with massive uncle’s wedding band. The heavy weights sits heavily on her hand. So she is finding the needle too hard to pull.

Aunt Jennifer is busy knitting with her ivory needle through her wool. But the chores and duties of the family checked her in the middle, she had to stop knitting. ‘Massive weight of uncle’s wedding band’ represents the marriage band between Jennifer and uncle. It suggests the harsh and difficult experiences of her married life. After marriage she had lost all her freedom. Aunt was like a heavy band put on her.

Aunt Jennifer’s terrified hands are referred in third sanza. The old unhappy memories are still fresh in her mind. During her married life, she had passed through difficult times. These ordeals have crushed and suppressed her. Aunt Jennifer is still ringed with those ordeals that dominated her life.

Aunt Jennifer is surrounded by the ordeals of the heavy responsibilities of her married life towards the family and towards Uncle Jennifer. The poetess used the word ‘ringed’ to point that Aunt was surrounded by the responsibilities which encircled her like a ring that surrounds the finger. Further, she will go on remembering her responsibilities.

In a nutshell, Aunt Jennifer represents fear and trembling but her animals represent strength.

The poetess has used different symbols in this poem. Some of them can be interpreted like this

1. Denizens of a world of green = residents of forest.

2. Massive weight of wedding band = ordeals and hardships of married life.

3. Terrified hands = tensed and troubled life both physically and mentally.

Aunt Jennifer is a lady who deserves everyone’s praise and sympathy. She is heavily loaded with her responsibilities of the married life. The speaker is liberating her only through the images, but in the end she says that her terrified hands after her death will lie in the grip of those hard experiences which had oppressed her during married life. The speaker shows sympathy but there is an atmosphere of tense in the end.

Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are her own creations. She has done it with ivory needles on the woollen panel. They are bright, yellow and chivalric and prance upon the screen very boldly. They have no fear from the man standing under the tree. They have all the traits which are found in the denizens of green forest. They have confidence and strength. They were created to represent her silent revolt against the uncle’s tyrant nature.

Aunt Jennifer has got much constraints of her married life. She is dominated by her husband and is aware of ordeals that she has faced during the life. She also knows her daily chores as well as the responsibilities of her smooth family life. She is under compulsion to pass through domestic life.

Even after Aunt Jennifer’s death the tigers in the panel can’t run away. They are made by Aunt Jennifer by her fine design work with her wool. The tigers will go on jumping proud and unafraid as before.

Aunt Jennifer chose to embroider tigers on the panel in order to represent her silent revolt against the uncle’s authoritative attitude and harsh nature. She wished to be free and strong like the prancing tigers. They pace in the panel in ‘Chivalries Certainty’.

Aunt Jennifer was a timid woman who could not stand against her tyrant husband. She remained a domestic lady who bore suffering meekly. She created tigers on her panel which represent her silent revolt against the uncle’s authoriative nature. She wished to free and strong like the tigers.

Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are from the world of green - the forest. Their world is always full of greenery and they buzz with activities of animals. The tigers are the brilliantly shining inhabitants of that world where they are the knights. They fear none and roam freely.

But the Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are made on the panel and she feels proud but she feels unafraid and, of course, like the tiger do not fear men. The poet has shown that the ordeals of a female will go on haunting her even after her death. This element of female existence is the basic infrastructure of life and love for other animals too.

The speaker tries to free and make feel proud will go on troubling her mind from the fear of men. But her feminism even after death.

This poem addresses the experience of marriage in the midst of constriction. Aunt Jennifer created tigers on her woollen panel. They are bright denizens of the green forest. They are fearless and they possess chivalric certainty. They prance across the screen with strength and smoothness.

While working on her panel, the fingers of Aunt Jennifer’s hand flutter. She finds it quite hard to pull the ivory needle even. It is because the heavy weight of her husband’s marriage band sits heavily on her hand. She feels tied down by that weight. The poetesss says that even after death, the terrified hands of Aunt Jennifer will tell the whole story of her constrained experiences of married life. She was crushed by the hardships of married life and the same can be seen in her hands. On the other hand the tigers will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

(i) The poem, ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ is written by Adrienne Rich.

(ii) Her tigers are jumping across a screen.

(iii) They are like shining topaz citizens of a world of forest.

(iv) They don’t fear the men beneath the tree.

B.

Adrienne Rich

B.

sleeping in the caves

C.

topaz

D.

don’t fear them

(i) Aunt Jennifer’s fingers are vibrating through her wool-knitting.

(ii) Uncle’s wedding band is bulky and heavy.

(iii) Aunt Jennifer’s hand is pressed heavily under the uncle’s massive wedding band.

(iv) Uncle appears to be a very dominating cruel and hard-hearted person.

C.

vibrating through her wool-knitting

A.

bulky and heavy

D.

All of the above

D.

All of the above

(i) She is Aunt Jennifer. She has mastered by her ordeals.

(ii) The tigers were made by Aunt Jennifer in the panel.

(iii) The tigers will continue jumping across the screen.

(iv) The tigers look proud and unafraid.

C.

Aunt Jennifer

A.

made in the panel

B.

jumping across the screen

C.

proud and unafraid

(i) The tigers of Aunt Jennifer are not real. Rather they are on a screen an can be seen on a panel.

(ii) Since the tigers possess chivalri certainty so they are powerful and have no fear from the men beneath the tree.

(iii) Chivalric certainty = possessing utmost power and strength.

C.

created with hands in a panel

D.

All of the above

C.

utmost power and strength

Aunt Jennifer's tigers are proud, free, fearless and sure of themselves. Unlike them, Aunt Jennifer is terrified and oppressed by her chauvinist husband. She lived her life under constant pressure of duties and responsibilities of a married lady.

The 'massive weight of Uncle's wedding band' lies heavily on Aunt Jennifer's hand. This wedding ring is representative of the oppression of her chauvinist husband and of the duties and responsibilities that burdened her, post her marriage.

Aunt Jennifer chose to embroider tigers on the panel as an expression of her suppressed emotions. The free, independent, enthusiastic tigers prancing around freely without fear have been as a symbol of her fighting spirit against the constraints that bound her as a married woman. So that when she died her spirit would remain in the fierce energy of the prancing and unafraid tigers.

Tigers like all beasts of prey are the 'denizens' of the forest. They live far away from human settlements. They are called 'chivalric'. This shows the majestic and honourable position that they occupy in the world of animals. So the use of 'denizens' and 'chivalric' for tigers add to our understanding of their attitude.

(a) The tigers are called Aunt Jennifers tiger as they are knitted by her. With their chivalrous, ferocious, bright and carefree attitude, she creates an alternate world for herself.

(b) Aunt Jennifers tigers are described as ferocious, fearless, always harmful, sleek and chivalric.

(c) The tigers are depicted as brave, strong, confident and happy. They are fearless beings and the presence of men does not scare them at all. Contrarily, Aunt Jennifer is burdened by a life which, most probably, others chose for her.

(d) The word “chivalric” refers to the confidence of the tigers about their power and brevity in their actions.