Tears Of A Tiger by Sharon M. Draper

I am currently reading Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper. The book brings up plenty of real world issues that go on between the characters in the book. A real world theme that comes up in the book is guilt. 

The book begins with four best friends in high school —- Andy, Tyrone, B.J. and Rob, who all decide to drink after their basketball game. They then decide to drive even though the driver (Andy) is intoxicated .When Andy loses control of the car tragedy hits, Rob, another one of the boys drinking, gets killed and Andy must deal with that guilt of killing his best friend. Because of that accident, many real world issues are brought to life in the book.

Because of the accident, Andy is feeling guilty for everything that happened the night of the car accident that killed Rob, his best friend. I think that Andy carries that weight on his shoulders because he doesn't feel like Rob would forgive him, and even if he does think Rob forgives him, I think Andy can't forgive himself for what he did. Andy, however will never get the chance to say sorry and that's what he really wants, forgiveness from the best friend he believes he hurt. Andy also feels guilty for replacing Rob’s spot as captain of the basketball team. He feels like he can’t live up to the same expectations of Rob, and he even feels like by replacing Rob, Rob wouldn’t forgive him for doing that too. When the coach is talking to him, Andy admits that he is going through pain and even asks the coach if he thinks Rob would forgive him. It seems as if he is desperate for forgiveness. 


Andy even feels driven to point where he questions suicide. The fact that Andy is willing to die because of all the guilt he carries with him tells me that this is a serious real world issue in the book. If Andy feels like it’s the only way out of the guilt and sorrow that he feels then that presents an issue in the story that has occurred in the real world. These are just a couple of examples why guilt is another real world issue that comes to life in the book.

I think that the author is trying to get me to think about the choices that we make. When I think about it, the real cause for Andy’s guilt is the fact that he made the wrong choice to drink and drive. Because Andy was only thinking about drinking even though he knew he had to drive, it resulted in Rob’s death. The authors teach us this by showing to us the emotional consequences of not thinking about the choices that we make. In real life, all of the choices we make affect us. In the book because Andy was drunk driving he lost an important person in his life, Rob. I say this because while reading it made me think about the outcomes of the choices we make. In the book, Andy feels guilty and ashamed of himself for the accident. However, Andy must carry that guilt of killing his best friend with him for the rest of his life and he will never get the chance to know that Rob forgives him for as long as he carries this burden of guilt that he has. Because of all of the outcomes of Andy’s situation and the real world issue that goes on in the book, I think the author is trying to tell us to think about the choices we make before we actually make them.