Emotions in Tears of a Tiger Essay Sample

Have you or a friend suffered through trauma before? Or maybe even now? Sometimes someone can be going through a very hard time and doesn’t have anyone to be there for them. Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper is a novel about a young boy named Andy Jackson where he and his friends crashed while drunk driving. You get to see all the emotions Andy goes through as he suffers his best friend's death. Never dismiss how important your feelings can be

One thing may just make a dramatic change. As we read the book, we see that Andy is very happy in the beginning. However, after the crash his personality had a major change. In the first chapter we see them happily talking about their basketball game. On page 6, Andy says, “We’re just gonna chill. We might try to find a party, or we might just finish off them beers and let the party find us.” Throughout the first chapter, Andy talks a lot and is willing to socialize with other people. However, later on, Andy doesn’t feel like talking to anyone unless really needed, and he is always feeling rather upset about everything. After the crash. Andy doesn’t feel the need to associate with anyone anymore and is acting differently. On page 35, someone says, “He’s been real moody lately, Coach.” We are able to see that Andy is starting to act differently which can lead to him being even worse in the future.

Throughout the book, Andy has a hard time talking about his feelings. Throughout the book, Andy dismisses the importance of his feelings. On page 23, Andy tells his basketball coach that he is doing well after the accident. However, on page 24, Andy states, “I wanted to die right after the accident.” Andy wants everyone to think he is doing well and doesn’t need help but deep down he is already starting to suffer. This is important since these are the first few emotions we see in Andy since he crashed the car. Also, as Andy meets with his psychologist, he tends to push his emotions away and act like he doesn’t care about what has happened. For instance, in page 114, which is Andy’s last visit to his psychologist, he lies about doing much better and doesn’t need any more sessions. This shows that Andy doesn’t want help from anyone and is dismissing the importance of how he feels. If Andy doesn’t care about how he mentally feels, he will get much worse and who knows what could happen. His emotions will be locked up inside him, and he won’t have anyone to let it all out and listen to him. So, if you find yourself or anyone around you struggling or acting different, lend a hand and make sure they are well.

Never asking for help can lead to a dangerous outcome. If you know you are not doing well, would you just continue on with life or ask for help? Some might say to just deal with it but why? Why would you want to keep that miserable feeling with you? You’ll get nowhere with a mindset like that. On page 42, Andy meets with a psychologist to try to make him sane again. When his psychologist asks why he’s there, he says, “Cause I’m depressed. But I don’t need a shrink, not even a smart black shrink. I’m fine. School is fine. Everythin’s just cool. Can I go now?” While reading that, you can tell that Andy doesn’t want anyone to help him with how he’s doing. He thinks that he is okay on his own and will eventually push through what’s holding him back, which is Rob’s death. This supports the fact that Andy doesn’t care about his mental state and doesn’t want anyone to care about him either. 

All in all, dismissing your feelings can lead to something bad. Without telling anyone who you really feel, all your emotions will be locked up inside you holding you back from things. Unlike Andy, you should always speak the truth when talking about your feelings.