The Tyger

William Blake’s “The Tyger” utilizes a series of rhetorical questions about the tiger’s creator to explore much larger, mystical parts of existence and the delicate balance of life. Primarily concerned and confused by the existence of such a fearsome creature, the speaker wonders at the God who could have created the tiger. The speaker, much like Blake himself, seems to understand the creative process for making art. He is less concerned with the violence or evil of the tiger and more with the intentions and artistic technique of the creator, or God. The speaker is attempting to reconcile the idea of a loving and omniscient God with the creation and allowance of violence and evil. However, the many questions throughout the poem do not actively seek answers. Instead, the poem is attempting to marvel at these mysteries, positioning the speaker’s confusion as a universal experience of the human condition. Some questions have no answers, as there are some things humans cannot hope to understand. For Blake, this is an expression of God’s divinity. God’s work requires dualities, contradictions, and opposing forces. A God who creates both the lamb and the tiger suggests that there is divine purpose in both good and evil, darkness and light.