Tiger Eyes Essay, Research Paper

The title of the piece of literature I chose to read was Tiger Eyes,

by Judy Blume. This book contained 205 pages. My choice for

reading this book was that I enjoyed reading many of her works

when I was younger. She always had a way of relating well with

the younger generations, which draws me to her books quite

often.

The main protagonist in Tiger Eyes was Davey Wexler,

a 15 year old girl from Atlantic City. Davey?s headstrong ways

and her beautiful heroicness gave her a unique individuality

which grew through out the book. Another main character in

this story was Wolf, a young man who enjoyed rock climbing.

His unique ways also gave him an almost mystical heir which

fascinated Davey. The last main character in this novel was

Gwendolyn Wexler, Davey?s mother. Her extreme love and

support for Davey through out the novel was her main role.

In Atlantic City, on a hot summer night, Adam Wexler

was the victim in a hold up of his 7-Eleven store. He was shot

several time in the chest. The assailant was never found. Davey

Wexler was there to experience it all, holding her dying father in

her arms, helpless and frightened. These are the memories that

faced Davey every day. Giving the family time to recover,

Davey, her mother, and her younger brother visited her father?s

sister in Los Alamos, New Mexico. While there Davey met Wolf,

an adventurous rock climber, and many other new friends.

With their help Davey is able to overcome the fear and despair

she had encountered from her father?s death and was able to

see the world again as someplace where good adventures

could occur.

My father?s death was the most horrifying experience

of my life. As he laid in my arms, bleeding and still hanging on

to life, there was nothing I could do to save him. After the

funeral, all I could do was sleep. I did not want to open my

eyes, for fear would consume all of me. I was so afraid of

everything that I slept with a bread knife under my pillow for

protection. When we arrived in New Mexico, it was still hard to

deal with it all. Although my mother encouraged me to try and

explore, I was still upset and extremely angry. Then, meeting

Wolf gave me a new hope and realization of it all. He showed

me that life was a true adventure and that living it to its full

potential was the best way to live. I know what I felt for him

was not love, but a strong connection between the

experiences that we had endured. His father was,

unfortunately, dying of cancer. The support that we gave each

other made us stronger and more able to face the world each

day. If it was not for Wolf, along with Reuben and Jane, I would

not be able to experience life without fear.

Tiger Eyes was an extremely realistic novel, with

characters which you could almost transform yourself into.

Through out the story, each character metamorphousized into

a stronger, courageous, more capable being. It is those

transformations which give the book its wonderful, and almost

haunting actuality. This is one of my all time favorite novels.

Each time I read it the experience is new, different, and better

than that of the first.